Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's around the 100th loop… and well, you’re tired. At Least you're able to talk to Loop. Sometimes you wish you have the courage to talk to your Family but, you don't know how they’ll react now. At Least Loop doesn't judge you.. too much.

 But… the tasks are feeling repetitive now and sure, you’ve spice it up from time to time! Like, well… poking your teammates! And uhh… you guess you talk differently every now and then. But it feels like a chore trying to remember how you're supposed to react every single time. Thankfully this bathroom stall gives you time to think for a bit. Sure, sometimes you listen to what your family is saying but, sometimes it's just good to think. Not too much! You know that thinking too much would… well hurt your brain more. If only you had that glass on you… No! Not time to think about that. If you stay in this stall any longer your family will worry about you. And you don't want that do you! Just manage a smile Siffrin… Just do It…

Wow! It took a lot of effort to pull a small smile on your face! It's only going to get harder from here on out… isn't it? Well, no time to think about it, time to head out!

You and your family exit the bathroom, Odile is Still watching you closely! She isn't talking to you during the snack breaks and has been watching you carefully. Odile is looking at you suspiciously again! Wuh oh! 

After you zone out to everyone talking, then you go to Mirabelle’s Statue to grab the Key Knife. …going to the statue again makes you think…. How long are you going to be stuck here? You tighten your fists as you notice something. Isa is looking straight at you. When has he done this? … doesn't matter anyway…

You get the Knife, defeat the Next Big Sadness and up to the last floor you go!  Well Snack time first.

You take your Mangala Fritters and eat them as always. … you're starting to get sick of them. Bonnie sees you, hurry; put a smile on your face! You manage a small smile, Bonnie still looks a bit down.. Hurry! Say something!

“Thank you, Bonnie,” as you manage to put a gentle, grateful smile on. They light up a bit and smile back. You wish you could do better… they still seem a bit down, but trying harder will make them worry.

“You Okay Siffrin?” they’re looking at you.

HURRY SAY SOMETHING!! “Yes, we’re fighting the king next so I'm a bit worried-”

“Will more snacks help?” they bring out more Mangala Fritters, not like you can decline them, if you do they’ll worry more!

“Yes please!” you take them and sit back down and eat them… and you see the others looking at you. You realize you're eating them a lot slower than normal. Usually they’re gone within 10 seconds, but now… yeah, a lot slower. Odile is giving you that look again and Isabeau takes notice of your weird actions. Mirabelle also seems to be catching on… Yep. you failed this loop

“Are you okay Siffrin? You’ve been acting a bit... Off today to say the least” Mirabelle sits by your side and talks

Isabeau sits on your other side, making it so you cannot get up.

You realize what they were talking about while you were in the bathroom. Seems Odile found out quicker this Loop… Which means... They know! Oh, and now you're stuck so you can't go and touch a tear! 

Yep, you're panicking a bit now, hurry Siff BREATHE! 

Odile Comes up to you.

“Siffrin, we noticed… how you're acting. You’ve been more withdrawn than you’ve ever been… please tell us what's wrong” Odile sits down in front of you

Innnn and ooooout…. come on Siff you can breathe! You're Worrying your Family! 

If they find out, they’ll hate you! It’ll all be over! You slowly grip your dragger, if this is how you must loop back, so be it. You quickly cut your neck, your Family grabs you, Mirabelle is trying to heal you but her craft isn't working. She is too shocked, Isabeau tries to stop the bleeding, and Odile blocks Bonnie from seeing what you just did to yourself. a little while after what felt like forever… you feel that same tug on your stomach… 

You end up in the same field as always. With the wind very slowly blowing and the sun shining on you. But it feels… different? Something is on you, this isn't normal. As you slowly open your eye… you see… some sort of creature on your stomach? It's a very bright shade, about the size of a medium dog… It looks very Smooth, but it has fur on it. What is this creature? 

It awakens as you sit up, and looks at you with its Big dark eyes… It looks right. at. you… then, slowly… it puts its little hands on your lap

Chapter Text

It's looking right at you- you're not too sure what to make of this. Do you move away? Well, it has its hands on you, so maybe Shifting away slowly...? You're not too sure how to react.

You attempt to shift away, but it’s little hands, paws? Stay on your lap as it shifts with you, keeping its eyes locked on yours. Like it’s asking for something, does it want something? You're not too good with animals, this at least seems like a normal creature. Are these common? So many questions run through your head that you forget about Mirabelle entering the field to wake you up.

“Siffrin?” She looks over your shoulder wondering what you're looking at. As well as respecting your space.

And you jumped a bit at her voice, great job, Siffrin.

She looks at the creature, seeing its big dark eyes first, confused, then curious. Doesn't look like she knows what this thing is either.

“Siffrin, do you know what that animal is?” she looks at it, reaches out her hand to see if the thing will allow her to pet it.

It shuffles to your chest, not wanting to be patted by her.

“Well, Uhm, the cute creature aside, I was thinking… how does a sleepover sound?” she stands in front of you a bit nervous on how you’ll react.

“That sounds like an Amazing idea!” you respond as always.

The creature takes notice of this, and looks at you a bit sad like it knows something. It hits you with its head on your chest softly. You try to shift away-but your efforts are futile..

Mirabelle looks at the animal then back at you “well, i’ll leave you be for now- but, before I go. What is that creature?”

You look down at the creature whose head still lays on your chest, have you’ve seen an animal like this before? You know your memory isn't… the best, so you take some time to try and remember anything like this creature, but you can't. The closest thing this animal looks like is a cat.

So you shrug. “I'm not too sure either, but it looks a bit like a cat. Some sort of feline.”

The creature rolls up into your lap, you try to move it off you but it feels like you shouldn't, you don't really touch animals too much, you’ve pet a dog or a cat once or twice you think. So this, well this is new! Mirabelle also looks at it more curiously and says; “it kind of does! I wish it would let me pet it though-”

You stare at the animal. “ This is my first time with an animal in my lap- I think.”

Mirabelle nods, unsurprised.

“Well, I'll go now, remember. Sleepover at the clocktower!” Mirabelle walks out of the field: leaving you and the creature alone again.

It's still on your lap. If it's anything like a cat that means you can't move or else the world may come after you… better safe than sorry.

An idea comes to mind, does Loop know anything about the creature? But you can't move because you're in-CAT-passitated… tehe good one, better keep that in mind.

It seems to move off your lap, like a child getting down from a tall seat. Then, it looks up at you as you are also able to stand up, it walks close to you. Interestingly, it walks on its back two legs! And it's also staying close to you, seriously, are you supposed to know them or something??? It feels like they know you well? Or are animals normally this clingy? Well, it did reject Mirabelle’s proposal to pet them. Yeah. time to ask Loop, or Odile, she knows a lot of stuff. Yeah Odile first.

You walk to the little store that's a bit behind the Change God’s statue, and the creature is keeping close to you like some VERY shy child, at some point it keeps it’s paws on your cloak, holding it gently.

You enter the store, head to the all-knowing Odile, and walk up to her; “hey Odile.”

She looks at you. “Hello Siffrin…” she sees the creature clinging onto my cloak, “Siffrin, you have some sort of animal on you” she gets a closer look at the thing, but you speak up; “I was hoping you would be able to tell me-!”

“Sorry Siffrin, I haven’t seen anything like it, but I do ask… why is it clinging onto you? Do you know it? Have you interacted with the creature in the past?” she raises her eyebrow, still looking at the animal.

You look at the creature again… it looks back up at you.

You look back at Odile and shrug “Even if I did, I doubt I remembered it.”

She straightens her back after crouching over to see the animal… it pops “well, if it doesn't mean harm, I guess I won’t worry about it.” She then goes back at browsing the shop’s items.

You exit the shop, you know you said that you would tell everyone about the sleepover, but after a few loops you found out it was pointless.

The cat-like-creature is still latched onto you. Like glue.

Well, time to head over to Loop now.

You walk over to the favor tree, Isabeau stands off on the side, pondering about something. You're not too sure anymore. But better talk to him so you can talk to Loop

.

You walk over to Isabeau, the cat-like creature still clings onto you as you walk over to Isabeau, he sees you and smiles then as you reach him, he says the same thing as normal.

“Sif!” his eyes seem to sparkle a bit. Yeah, that must be normal, happens every time anyway.

Okay, time for your line “Isa.” you say with a small smile, the creature reacts to this too, tugging on your cloak. Isabeau sees the animal.

The creature is tugging on my cloak as it seemingly was a bit upset, this is the second time now.

Isabeau crouches to the creature's level, and manages to look at it, making eye contact with it. “Sif, you got a little guy following you.” he tries to pet the creature, but it hides under my cloak now. And… squeaks??? It's like a little chirp, but a squeak from a kitten? Isabeau looks a bit hurt that it refused his affection. But he stands up again and looks down back at you “So, what is that thing?” he asks.

Yep, you're used to this now, third time someone asking this, Mirabelle… did Odile? Oh well, and now Isa. Who knows how Bonnie would have acted? You look at the creature now under your cloak, you’re still not used to a clingy thing, but you look back at Isa “I don't know, but I ‘paw-sibly’ think it's some sort of cat…” you smirk a bit at your own pun as Isabeau laughs.

The creature lifts up the bottom of my cloak showing itself again, Isa, calms down, offers to pet it again, and gets rejected as it hides again, you see Isa shed a single tear of rejection.

“Well, I'm going to do the Favor tree thing now.” You say, pointing to the huge tree.

Isabeau looks at you “well, I’ll get out of your way then, see you at the Clocktower!” he smiles back at you as he heads off.

He didn’t do the hand thing this time… well, not like he could ever find the effort to put it on your shoulder, and you didn't even say the correct joke; oh well. It doesn't matter; not like he could ever do it. But enough about that.

You look back at the tree. Time to talk to Loop.

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As you're walking over to Loop, you have to drag the creature with you as it hangs onto your cloak stubbornly. Seriously, WHY IS IT SO ATTACHED TO YOU???? It's not too hard to pull around though, it just… slides. Like a half-deflated pillow with no motor function.

Okay, now as you see the upper half of Loop, you take a few more steps and wave to them nervously while dragging the creature behind. 

Loop looks at you and waves back, they see you dragging the creature, and they light up a bit. “Looks like you found them!” they say while chuckling.

“Do you know what it is Loop????” you ask in confusion as you walk over to the base of the tree and sit down. The creature sits next to you, still holding onto your cloak, and then relaxes a bit; sighing. 

“Well~ I thought you might want something else to talk to as well! Sometimes you seem to want someone other than your good friend Loop~!” they chuckle while saying that. That still doesn't answer your question. Loop seems to notice this and replies “Don’t you know what it is~? It’s not hard to tell~” 

They’re just annoying you at this point, so you give them a dead-pan stare, communicating that you're done with this. In response, Loop says, “It’s a slugcat Stardust~!” 

YOU WERE… Half right. But…. a Slugcat? You’re not too sure you’ve heard about this before. Are you supposed to know this? Maybe you forgot, that’s normal. But Loop said you might want something else to talk to? Is that why this Slugcat is following you? 

“Loop, does it know about… the loops?” the Slugcat is looking at you again, you notice something, its right eye is… not as black as its left, can it see out of that one? 

“Well, why else would it be following you?” They look at the Slugcat too, making eye contact. “Also, have you’ve been calling them a creature? They deserve a real name Stardust~!”

Loop has a point. But… you’ve only known the creature- the, uh, Slugcat for only a few hours now, and besides. Will it continue to follow you, or will it get bored and leave? You feel like you have so many questions but no good way to word them. How old is it? Can it go through the house, WILL it go through the house with you? Does it take kids well? You haven’t talked to Bonnie yet and you don't know how Bonnie will react as well. Great; now you're panicking a bit.

“Calm down Stardust~! Have you forgotten that if something goes wrong you can just loop back?” Loop looks at you and sees the small bit of panic you have in your eyes, even with them reassuring you they can still get on your nerves a bit.

The Slugcat climbs back into your lap. Okay, you're getting used to it now, in fact it feels kind of nice now, like it's looking out for you. Like it wants to be with you, it's… comforting, and it’s genuine you can feel it, you smile a bit. 

Should you give it a name? You’ll need a lot of time to think about it. Loop is looking away at the two of you, they seem happy but a bit saddened.

And they take some time before speaking up again “So, do you like the little cutie~?” Okay, back to being sassy it seems.

What else did you expect? Should you thank them? Yeah, you should. “Thank you, Loop.” they look a bit surprised then giggle and say “ ewww~ a genuine thanks!”  Okay. Next time, don’t thank Loop. they’ll always find a way to annoy you more then a bit or get on your nerves.

You try to stand up to leave, but it feels like the Universe won't let you, probably because the Slugcat is on your lap. You stop trying to get up. You feel like you’ll anger the world if you force the slugcat off your lap.

The Slugcat takes notice of this and slowly shimmies its way off your lap and then keeps its grabby hands on the edge of your cloak, allowing you to get up.

“See you around Stardust~!” they wave to you as you walk away, you wave back to Loop as you walk away from the Favor tree. 

Okay, now you wonder. How will Bonnie react? Will they question its edibility, or try to pet it like the dogs and cats they see in the other towns sometimes? Didn’t they always do something when they saw one? You're pretty sure they would ask Mira if they could pet it. Mira would also want to pet it, but would ask the owner first. 

Well, time to give it a shot. You walk over to the east side of town past the blind man to the veggie fields. Bonnie is looking at the veggies, and you walk behind them.

“Hey Bonnie.” They give you a glance.

“... heyfrin. … ...Do you want something? …” you look down at the Slugcat and look back at Bonnie “I wanted you to meet someone” you smile a bit as the slugcat, still holding onto your cloak, wobbles a bit over to bonnie. Not too close though.

“Who?” Bonnie looks down and sees the creature, their eyes light up and they try to pet it. But stop and look at you “umm.. … Can I pet it?” you look at the Slugcat and say, “Only if it lets you.” they took that as a yes and reach down to it. The slugcat freezes but tries to toughen up as it lets Bonnie pet them, once. Then hides under your cloak.

“Aww…” Bonnie looks at the Slugcat as it hides under your cloak. They stand up. “Hm. ...See you at the clocktower.” and they walk away to the clocktower. 

That went better than expected! And the Slugcat let Bonnie pet them! Well, it’s almost time to head over to the clocktower yourself. But now you have another question… will the Drawing kid draw them? So, you walk over to the young artist, the slugcat dragging behind.

You walk next to the amazing artist, and they show you all their wonderful drawings again, and they see the Slugcat and point to it, wondering if they can draw them too. You see their curious face and let them see the slugcat. After a while, they draw a picture of the creature. 

They smile at their own drawing as they show it to you. The little slugcat likes it too, their eyes seem to shine a bit more. 

After saying the usual stuff, they draw a picture of you and your family! You smile and say “Thank you, talented one!” you look over it once more they seem to have drawn the Slugcat on your hat. You show the creature. The Slugcat lights up again. Then you carefully fold the drawing and put it in your pocket. 

Time to head to the clocktower. You head over to the broken bridge and you jump over. The Slugcat is still on the other side.

It looks like it’s about to- you get tackled by the Slugcat as it leaps over the gap, and you fall on your butt. Ow! That hurt! But you quickly recover as the Slugcat gets off you, only to latch onto your cloak again as you stand up.

You walk over to the clocktower. Mirabelle sees you “Siffrin! You're here!” she sees the Slugcat again “It’s still following you?” Odile gives it a look too, Isabeau tries to pet it again. But alas, it goes under your cloak not allowing him to pet them. He sheds another tear as he looks a bit hurt. He looks more hurt as the Slugcat allows Bonnie to pet it once. You could've sworn that the five stages of grief went through his expression at once.

Bonnie smiles; “ I brought back a bunch of food! Let's go, let's go!!!” you all enter the clocktower and set the table as Bonnie grabs the food. You sit down at your chair and the Slugcat climbs onto your lap. Odile raises an eyebrow at it, but dismisses it. 

“Are animals allowed at the table?” you ask Bonnie, and Bonnie sees the Cat on your lap “I suppose… but what does it even eat?” they reply with. The slugcat is looking at everything, you look at the creature “I’m not too sure?” Bonnie looks at you then the slugcat. Then, Bonnie offers the slugcat some fruit, and the creature takes it happily, holding the food close to its chest as it happily takes small bites out of it.

“Did you figure out what it is Siffrin?” Odile looks at the slugcat munching on the fruit .

“Yeah! I’m wondering too!” Mirabelle looks at the creature “Is it yours? It’s quite attached to you.” 

Isabeau is munching happily on his food. You look back at the creature on your lap. “I don't know why it’s so attached to me, but the animal is called a Slugcat.”

“A Slugcat?” Odile and Mirabelle say, Mirabelle leans over to the slugcat, the slugcat hugs its food, thinking Mirabelle might take it. 

“It’s quite fuzzy! But it has short hair!” Bonnie smiles and gives it some more fruit as it finishes the apple, core and all. The slugcat’s cheeks are puffed up as it stuffs itself with fruit. 

You haven’t felt it yourself yet, well, you always have your gloves on unless you're going to bed and sleeping. … you take off one of your gloves and see if the Slugcat will allow you yourself to pet them. And, it does! In Fact, more than once! But you only pet it twice so bonnie doesn't get jealous. 

Everyone finishes eating. The Slugcat ate quite a bit and more, like you.

“That was DE-LI-CIOUS!” Isabeau exclaims. You’ve heard this before, so you just zone out. The slugcat gives you a look and snaps you out of it by bunting your cheek with its head when Mirabelle’s speech comes to an end.

Everyone gets in for a hug but you and Odile. You look at them. Longingly, but look away before any of them see you. There is something wrong with you, that's why they won't touch you. Do these versions of them even see you as family? You doubt they even see you as a friend. Maybe. But they would show that they cared for you…. Right? 

The Slugcat hugs you, they put their arms around your legs and tightly squeeze. Helps you not tear up, not like you could anyway. They put their hands up to you seemingly asking you to do the same. So, you pick them up and hug them. 

Odile sees this. She is a bit confused at your sadden face and the fact you're hugging something.

“Siffrin, is everything okay?” she comes up to you as you're holding the Slugcat. 

You look up at her and as you force a smile on your face, you say, “Yeah!” The slugcat doesn't like this and hugs you tighter. Odile takes notice of this.

“Siffrin, you and I are very private people. But please do talk to us when you can. Isabeau is better at the feelings thing than I am, but you can talk to me too.” … you hide your face with your hat.

“let's just get ready for bed…” you can't muster out anything more than that.

 You put the slugcat down and head to the bathroom. It stays at the door as you go in. Odile is already suspicious of you, you can’t have them find out about this, but… you’re getting tired. Is it that hard to keep a smile? To not make them worry? An actor needs to be good with their expressions. Or else the play may not be the same.

You look at the mirror and try to smile, It hurts. Oh well, time to get ready for bed. Like always, you can’t find your nightdress, so you go with sweatpants and a t-shirt. Will you ever be able to wear dresses again? You brush your teeth, and something enters through the bottom of the door. The slugcat manages to fit under the very thin and small crack at the bottom of the door somehow. So you quickly finish up and open the door to leave, and the slugcat follows you out, allowing Bonnie to use the bathroom.

You hang your cloak and hat up, then sit down on the bed and the slugcat gets onto your lap and buries itself into your stomach. Isabeau comes out of the bathroom, drying off his hair from a recent shower. He sees you and sits down next to you.

“You doing okay Sif?” 

“Oh- uhh… hi Isa.” you slowly pet the Slugcat as it keeps itself on your lap.”Well, I’m Feline Fine” you say with a smirk, Isabeau laughs at the joke, but not too loudly because we’re getting ready for bed.

“Well, that pun out of the way, seriously are you. .  okay Sif?” 

Why does he keep asking you? You need to make up something good. But the pun didn’t work so what can you do to avoid this conversation..? Well, maybe a half-truth would work: “I’m wondering why this little guy is so attached to me” that should be good enough, but, seriously, please stop prying Isa!!

“Do you know its name?” Isabeau asks. Looks like you're off the hook right now, don’t mess this up Siffrin. 

“No, I do not.”

“Maybe you could name it?”

You look at the Slugcat’s lighter  eye, it’s right eye opposite of your blind left one. Maybe something on the lines of that, maybe there's a good word for it. But you're not too sure. Isabeau sees the eyes of the slugcat, and how one is lighter than the other, his eyes widening for a bit. 

You look at the Slugcat’s eyes for a bit longer, they look like pearls, big, shiny, pearls… 

That seems like a good name, Pearl.

“Pearl.”

Chapter Text

The Slugcat’s ears perk up and they look around. Do they like pearls, Or know about them?

Isabeau is a bit surprised at the name and the slugcat’s reaction. But he seems to like it.

"What made you think that?” Isabeau says with a smile.

You look back at those big pearl eyes, both different shades. You're not too sure if they’re innocent or not, but that doesn't matter, they look innocent enough. Hopefully have not killed dozens of other creatures.

“Their eyes remind me of pearls.” You say while pointing at Pearl's big, round, shiny eyes. Isabeau nods in agreement. You're so glad you got out of that other question; this one actually matters.  

“Well, I’m gonna make sure Bonnie is ready for bed.” Isabeau leaves the room. This gives a little time to think. Odile will enter soon, so these few minutes alone must be cherished. 

You lay down on your and Isa’s bed. Pearl moves onto your neck. Surprisingly enough you don't feel too much weight on you, so you're not being choked to death! You hear a small rumble from Pearl and yourself- you two are purring. You understand why Pearl is purring, they’re a cat! Well, a slugcat. But why are you purring??? You can’t stop yourself; Odile is about to enter, you’ll never live this down. And If everyone else finds out you're going to get teased so bad about this- well, maybe only this loop? 

Well, too late Odile is here, thankfully she is reading her book. This gives you more time to stop purring-! Nope Odile is looking at you now. She closes her book, she smirks and raises an eyebrow at you and the slugcat.

“Seems like our little rogue can purr.”

And now Mira enters with a questioning look and goes next to Odile and then sees you. You see her sparkle a bit in curiosity.

“Siffrin…? Are you…. PURRING???” she sparkles more.

You cover your face with your hands, Pearl seems to be dozing off, but they’re still purring with you, Oblivious to the looks you are getting from your Family. 

Bonnie, as always running into the bedroom with too much energy and Isabeau following them, also see you purring. They both light up, Isabeau’s face sparkles with Mirabelle’s.

“Sifff????” he has a small grin on his face, and Bonnie is a bit confused.

Yep yep, you're done for. STARS, WHY CAN’T YOU STOP PURRING??? 

You try to get up, but with Pearl on your neck you feel like the Universe won't let you, like it’s some secret untold law. But pearl sees your struggle and rolls off like liquid. It also stops your purring, thank stars you’ve stopped. You take your hands off your face

“Awww…” Isabeau looks at you a bit saddened.

“Let's just go to bed-” you say in a sheepish tone.

You look at Pearl, you don’t think anyone would want to sleep with them, so you get an idea. you head over to where you hung up your cloak and hat. You grab your hat and set it on the floor in front of your bed. 

Pearl wastes no time and DIVES into it headfirst, then after shuffling around a bit they pop their head out of your hat, then makes that small chirp sound from before, not quite like a chirp, but like a squeak and a meow. 

You Ignore the ‘Catsif’ stuff your family is talking about, and you get in bed. You slowly doze off, not even what feels like a second later, Isabeau is now whispering your name.

“Hey... hey Sif. Siffrin. Siffarooni~” like always do, you turn around to listen. But end up zoning out for most of it, then you find yourself holding your breath then he stops, Chicken. 

And 3… 2… 1… you see a pillow hit Isa’s face, direct hit. You zone out for the rest, until you hear Pearl chirp tiredly in agreement at Odile’s statement. Then slowly go back to sleep. At least they can rest.

But you can’t seem to sleep.

Well, not like it matters too much, you technically don't need to sleep in the loops anymore or eat in that matter. Your body just resets every loop, besides the scars- but not like anyone can really see those.

The night passes on, you didn’t sleep a minute. Well, not sure on what you were expecting. Sure, you're tired but not from sleep, you're tired of these loops. Tired of having the same food over and over again. Tired of your script. You may never escape, but Pearl is already helping you keep a bit of your sanity, if they remember the loops, you hope they stay sane and happy. You’ve only known them for a few hours but, even if they disappear tomorrow, you're grateful for their company.

You get out of bed carefully to not wake up Isabeau or anyone else, and get changed into your normal attire; probably hundreds of belts, your one pair of boots, cloak and- Pearl is still asleep in your hat. You reach out to wake them up, but it feels like you’ll break another untold rule if you do so. Well, you wait a bit. You're the first one up after all- wait that's not normal, you’re normally the last one that wakes up or you usually get woken up by someone else. 

Well, you don't know what to do. You got everything, your silver coin, your dagger, your clothing. You usually don't have the time to do anything else. What time is it?? When was the last time you’ve taken your time too well, look at the time?  Uh when do you guys normally leave? It's about 5:30- you’ve NEVER been up this early.

You feel something tugging on your cloak, as you look down you see a sleepy slugcat. Pearl tugs your cloak and leads you back to the bedroom, then goes back into your hat to sleep. So, even the slugcat wants you to sleep? So you put all your stuff away and get back into your pajamas, then get back into bed.

You’re only able to doze a bit and after awhile you hear someone get up, you wait until everyone is awake. Bonnie will slam the door open soon, you don’t want to hear that again, before you get up you feel tiny paws slapping you. You open your eyes and see Pearl lightly smacking your face with their paws. Well, at least you can tell you looked asleep, but now time to get up, Bonnie slamming the door open might scare Pearl. So, you get out of bed and head out.

Chapter Text

Cloak, hat, still not enough belts, dagger. Okay you got everything. Wait. you slowly turn your head to look over at Pearl, and they seem to want to join. You offer the spot under your cloak they held on to. But they LEAP onto your face and go under your hat. First of OW! Secondly, how high can they jump??? They’ve lept into several things now, how far can they go...?

it's more like they're your hat wearing your hat, but it's okay- still feels like your hat is on. 

You go grab your orb and set off to the house, making sure Pearl doesn’t get their little paws on it.

You head out with your Family to the House, why do you even call it the house still? It’s just a prison right now. A reminder of every single loop you go through. You hate this place. You wish you could leave it behind forever. Burn it down, maybe. Or explode it. But you can't, you have to push through.

You grab the circle key and the tonics, head to that door again, key in, enter. Now, you're at the death corridor. Pearl pokes out of your hat, and then LEAPS off your head, dashing past the pillars as fast as they possibly could through the hallway and-

 Before you can even blink, the boulder falls on them. Almost out of instinct, you stab your dagger through your throat, almost instantly passing out and being in that weird state between dying and living.

You wake up in a cold sweat. IS PEARL OKAY?? You jolt up and Pearl is shocked at your reaction and is panicking trying to calm you down, but they also seem startled after what just happened.

“D-Don't do that again… please…” you try to pet them with your trembling hand, it’s hard. They notice this then lightly headbutt you, as if trying to say Sorry.

Pearl gives you what seems like a hug, they’re trying, so you hug them back in response, not wanting to let go seeing the boulder fall on them was not fun to experience. You're not gonna let go of them for a while, they’re shivering but you're trying your best to comfort them, you're hoping this is helping… 

Mirabelle is behind you, stars; you forgot about her for a minute.

“Siffrin? Are you okay..?” she looks over your shoulder and sees the Slugcat, her eyes light up yet again “what is that creature?” 

You try to calm down in order to make a normal response come out of your mouth “ohh uhh, this is Pearl… they’re a Slugcat” you manage to get out of your throat, hurts a bit though... You look back at Pearl, slowly patting her head, They seem to be calming down a bit.

“Are they okay?” Mira looks at Pearl in concern and reaches out her hand to pet them.

Pearl retracts their head and hugs you harder.

“Yeah, they’re just a bit shaken-” you continue to pet Pearl gently and slowly, they seem to have managed to fall asleep in your arms. At Least they can rest, dying for the first time wasn’t pleasant for you, or for them either it seems.  “But I think they’re doing better” you slowly pet Pearl again.

 Mirabelle is still a bit confused. Right, she has never seen you really touch anyone before, and so willingly too. Looks like that touch therapy has helped you a bit after all, and Pearl is helping you even more. You don't want to see them die again, ever.

You look back at Mira, you need some time to yourself, best way to get her to go is after she tells you about the sleepover.

“Anyway, do you need anything Mira?” you look at her with a small smile on your face.

“Oh yes! I was thinking, how about a sleepover?” she says with a smile, the same smile as always whenever she says that line.

“That sounds like an AMAZING idea, Mira!” you say back your the normal smile you're required to put on for this part of the script. Pearl stirs a bit in their sleep after you say that line.

“I’m going to inform the others now! After all, you can’t really move with… Pearl on your lap, we don’t remove cats that lay on us.” she says with a serious face. "It's basically a death sentence if you do- no- a torture sentence."

Oh! So it is true, no wonder you felt like you were being held back whenever you tried to move Pearl off your lap, must be one of the unspoken rules of the Universe. 

“We're staying in the clocktower at the east of the town, right past the broken bridge. See you there Siffrin!” Mirabelle says that then walks off. At Least you have some more time to help Pearl calm down and rest. You lay back down to rest, Pearl on your chest, rising up and down as you breathe in the air around you, listening to Pearl’s breathing and slowly go in sync with them as the wind lightly blows on you two. 

You're so tired lately, it's nice having this moment of peace with the slugcat, you feel like you can move on for a bit longer now with Pearl here. They seem to understand you, in the time-looping sense anyway. But even then, knowing something wants to help you (besides Loop) is nice, something always next to your side- yeah you're doing it for the Slugcat and your family, making them happy… right? 

About time you head over to the clocktower now- Pearl seems to have awoken from their nap, and they slowly make their way off your chest. Allowing you to stand up.

It's a bit early to head to the clocktower, but you're ready to have a longer rest than normal. After all, you are exhausted and it’s not like eating anything will change it. So, you get into your normal pajamas like always and head to bed. Hanging up your cloak and leaving your hat next to you on the floor for Pearl to sleep in.

As last time, Pearl DIVES into your hat and quickly falls asleep. You try to fall asleep for a while, soon enough you hear the doors open, it seems your family has arrived, they’ll have dinner soon. At least they’re safe right now. And you're more or less asleep right now. 

You hear Odile enter the bedroom first as always, then the others shortly follow, making some comments about you already being asleep, and about Pearl. You forgot to tell them about Pearl- you’ll be sure to remind them next loop. Well, Mira knows that they’re a Slugcat so, you didn’t entirely fail. 

You manage to fully fall asleep, you don’t wake up to Isabeau, you're too deep in a slumber.

The night seems to quickly pass. You have a headache from the dream you had, a constant ticking sound, you can still hear it. It’s ticking, ticking, ticking, ticking ticking ticking tickingtickingtickingTICKING. You manage to ignore it until it goes away.

You seem to be the last up, back to the normal routine then- Pearl has already left your hat, maybe being petted by Bonnie- or only one pat. So you get into your normal clothing, cloak, hat, dagger, coin, yep it's all here. You find Pearl sitting on top of the fireplace to avoid Isabeau patting them. They see you and climb up your side and into your hat again, getting some looks from your family which you ignore. Then picking up the orb, you head to The House with everyone.

Enter, Key Tonics, Open Door, Death Corridor- you hold Pearl from your hat. “Don’t you dare run across the hallway this time Pearl.” you hold them in front of you with a cold stare so they get the point. You look up ahead and see some… odd plant- right where Pearl died last loop.

It’s an odd shade- you saw a book on those a few loops ago, it was called 'color theory' Right? A... color? After looking at the thing for a while it goes to normal shades.

You entrust Pearl to Bonnie, happily taking them like they’re some puppy. You head over to the switch and flip it, “OH, WAIT!!! Siffrin, I just remembered, this room, it's–” Mirabelle is yelling at you as the boulder falls in a different spot than normal than when Pearl was running. You hate this trap.

Pearl is moving a lot in Bonnie’s arms and manages to escape, heading over to the Weird Thing on the ground. It picks it then- eats it UHH- you head over to Pearl really quick and open their mouth, but they already swallowed it.

They climb up you and back into your hat- well time to get going to the other rooms now, you suppose, you don't want to see that boulder any longer now that it has killed someone else besides you. So, you push forward to the next room, ignoring what your family has to say, it's probably the normal stuff anyway. You ignore it all and go on with Pearl in your hat.

Chapter Text

Okay, your now in a room where Pearl won't run around and DIE. unless that plant they ate kills them, but you really hope that isn't the case, you hold your hat down keeping Pearl in place so they can’t run off and die again-

You head to the East wing, dash past the sadnesses, and you arrive at the tears, Isabeau says, “You know, usually I'd be worried about this, but Sif doesn't seem worried at all!” you keep walking anyway, ignoring the look Odile is giving you. She already seems to be getting a bit suspicious of you already, and it’s early in this loop too. 

You feel Pearl moving around your hat and is looking back at the tears, you quickly enter the room where the crest lays. The sadness goes down in 5 strikes, has it always been this easy? Sometimes you couldn’t even beat the simple sadnesses, how much stronger are you now? 

You grab the crest and Pearl- pearl has left your hat, great. And they’re putting a rock in their mouth and grabbing a few more. Geez, what is with Pearl? Is this normal for them, should you be concerned? You stare at Pearl as they grab rocks, holding on in each hand and the one they swallowed. They end up walking next to you, because their paws are full. 

Okay, maybe, just maybe... Pearl can fight. You are wondering more about them and what a slugcat can do- you’ll find a weak sadness and give it a shot, but maybe after you grab the key from the… … Kitchen! Yes kitchen- your memory is getting worse by the loop now; a kitchen is such a simple room too! Well- you better not forget that again, that would be bad! 

“I am DEFINITELY not looking around me and I'm admiring the view instead so tell me if I'm about to run into something dangerouuuuuus!” Isabeau is walking towards the tears, you stop him without even thinking about it, Pearl is also walking to the tears, and you stop them too by putting your head on their head. 

“WAH! Wh-what? What is it???” Isabeau is a bit startled, and everyone is now looking at him and you “Is it the water? Should I... not touch the weird floating water?” Isa says while looking at the tears

The interaction goes as normal: Bonnie tells them what they are, Isa gets scared that he almost died, Bonnie talks about how they were told you get a really good dream when you're frozen by them. You know that last part isn't true at all, sure the first few times were nice… and a bit nostalgic... But that really isn't that case anymore, now it's something horrifying... Like feeling you just about to fall- but you never do, or… you don't want to think about the other ones. Everyone turns to Bonnie.

“Ah, um…  Um... A nice lady told me that when she heard my sister got frozen…” you wish you could reassure them but, you still don't know how to go on with that conversation or even where to start. Maybe Bonnie's sister is having one of the nostalgic and nice dreams… you can only hope that. 

Pearl seems to be listening to everything, keeping silent like you as they talk about the tears but right before Bonnie says they know it’s not true, Pearl reaches a paw out to one- WOAH nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. You swoop in and pick them up. You're not having them die to a tear- you don't want them to experience those ‘dreams’ 

Odile looks at Pearl, did Mirabelle tell them about Pearl? If she didn’t it would explain the looks Odile is giving you and Pearl- or did Mira tell the others about Pearl? If so- why would Odile be looking at you like that? Does she find Pearl a bit odd or is it how you're reacting with them? It is everything about you- no use in thinking too hard about this.

Bonnie is giving that upset expression- maybe you can do something… you pick up Pearl, Pearl wonders what you're doin.g

“Hey Bonnie-” you swallow a bit.

“It's fine Frin I know it's not true..?” they look at you in confusion as you hold Pearl to them.

“You want to hold Pearl? I need someone to watch them, and… you seem like the perfect fit for this job-” you swallow a bit, a bit hoping Bonnie accepts waiting Pearl, you know Pearl only let Bonnie pet them during the first loop with them, and no one else. 

You doubt Bonnie will take Pearl- but you see their eyes sparkle- guess Bonnie likes Pearl no matter what part in a loop you're in. That's nice to know.

“Really...?” Bonnie smiles a bit while saying that, you lift Pearl to them.

“Who else...?” Bonnie holds Pearl- thankfully Pearl accepts this, very willingly too for some reason. You hope this helps Bonnie- even if they do forget when you loop back, you don’t like seeing them sad…

Everyone gives Bonnie a smile, Isabeau looks at you and gives you a smile too- you really don’t deserve that smile... You don't deserve any of them. You're disgusting..

Bonnie holds Pearl for a bit but ends up holding their paw, Pearl lets go of the rock in their right hand so Bonnie can hold their hand.

You pull out the crest and use it on the tears. Thankfully Pearl is in good hands, don’t want Pearl getting frozen in time! You would never forgive yourself! You’re still mad at yourself for not saving Pearl from the boulder. But the safer everyone is the better~! 

You make your way past the sadness and into the kitchen, you grab the juices - you don't really need these, but you feel like if you ignore all of them someone will get suspicious, you don’t want that. 

You make your way to the cabinet- you accidentally hit your hip into the counter again and Pearl bonks into the counter as well making a small squeak when they do, they jump up and fall on top of you making you fall down with them, you fall face flat into the floor. OW!

“SIF!?” Isabeau comes to your side- you try to get up, but Pearl gets up first and stands on you then hops off, pushing you down as they go back to Bonnie’s side. Isabeau almost touches you- he shouldn't have to touch a disgusting person like yourself- so you get up quickly.

“Are you okay Siffrin?” Odile looks at you- you give them a quick nod and then smirk- "You're not going to make a pun-" you interrupt her.

"I'm Purr-fectly fine!" Isabeau laughs at this, and you get a smirk from Mira,

Bonnie looks at you, angry. “NO! BAD FRIN!” you brush off the dust, then turn away to let your smile drop. time to move on- you’re stalling too much.

Chapter Text

You grab the egg key then start working your way over to the west side of this floor and enter the armory.

Bonnie keeps Pearl from the weapons- but Pearl’s eyes grow at the sight of the spears and making grabby hands at them. while Bonnie is keeping Pearl close you head over to the- uhh big steel thing with a stone on it and an oven for weapons- yeah they have a name.. Did you forget something so simple again?

Odile looks at you while holding her book “...It's a forge and that's an anvil, Siffrin.” she sounds disappointed in you; as she should.

Isa chimes in “And the stone is a sharpening stone!” oh. Yeah that’s what they’re called, does it even matter at this point? You know what the sharpening stone is and that you need it- you don't need to act so confused at the sight of these anymore. Is there some face you make when you’ve forgotten stuff? How are they able to tell when you don’t remember something? You might want to ask next time this happens.

You pocket the sharpening stone into one of your many pockets and turn to see how Bonnie is holding up with the other little rascal- Mira seems to be helping Bonnie too. Odile looks at them, a bit confused but curious “Why the need for an armory and weapons in the first place? Does the House often get attacked?”

Oh, this interaction again- you zone out until you hear something different. It’s Bonnie, not talking about the class their sister took- but instead talking about Pearl, they look away, then have a smirk “Can I give one to Pearl?” they’re looking right at you, Pearl seems to be pleading for you to let them- Bonnie seems to be interested in what will happen “Siffrin, No.” Odile gives you a stern look, eyebrows furrowed.

You crouch down to Pearl’s level, you don't need to crouch too low because you're only as tall as a pre-teen as you normally made fun of. You look them straight in the eyes unknowing on how scary your face is right now.

“Can I trust you?” Pearl sees your scary face and nods, you let go on whatever expression you're making “We can let Pearl hold one.” you smile at Bonnie, who looks a bit startled.

“Siffrin, what did I just say-” Odile, is looking at you oddly again, but Bonnie is already giving Pearl a spear making Odile stop talking. Mira and Isabeau look a bit unsure about the whole thing.

Pearl grips the spear like they’ve done this many times before, they turn their head over their left shoulder and look at all of you. Motioning to get back. Everyone does so and then- Pearl seemingly effortlessly throws the spear INTO the wall- walks over to it and pulls it out with the same amount of effort.

“Well- would you look at that.” Odile says while everyone looks either shocked or impressed. Maybe you could let Pearl fight after all, but- how can such a small creature wield that much power..? Is it normal for Pearl? Now you wonder what they’ve been through, how old are they anyways? Surely they have an interesting life story if they know how to fight. But even if they do know how to fight- you don’t want them getting hurt.

You head over to Pearl again, crouch again to their level, “Now Pearl, just because you can fight doesn’t mean I'm letting you be in front with all of us” you give them that look again, they seem a bit scared but continue to listen to you. “Do you understand? We’ll talk about ground rules another time, but for now only use it to defend yourself if you really need it.” Pearl nods exceedingly to show they get the point.

You get up and look at everyone, they look a bit scared- you realize you’re holding that face, so you smile at them instead “let's continue, shall we?” you let Pearl go back to Bonnie’s side, Odile stays back with them this time, maybe to keep an eye on Pearl and Bonnie- oh well, you turn around and exit the armory and continue your way to writing dorm, you make a beeline to the nightstand and grab the key “In someone's drawer? What a weird place for a key…” Odile is intently looking at the key.

You zone out until you hear them clap, you take a bow and then you get back to it. No need to listen too much if you’ve heard it so many times before.

Before you can leave the room, Pearl tugs on your cloak, making you stop. “Do you need something Pearl?” you look down at them, they have their head down, like they want you to pet them- well who are you to say no to that?? You might be a monster if you refuse to pet them, anyone would be. So you just pat them now- you feel a bit better, but- it’s slowing you down. You cut it short and make your way back to the main room where the gate is.

You insert the key into the lock and make your way to the first strong sadness, aka, the ‘big ball head’ as your team calls it. Rock first it seems, ‘Tear you apart’ it is then. You do the normal stuff as always, and it switches to Paper right before you got the jackpot- you hate it when that happens, at least it seems more than halfway done now. Just end it already, you know you can make this go quicker. So you, ‘Just Attack’ or whatever, it seems to almost be down- its weak enough for Bonnie to just deal the final blow, they should come in just about-

A rock is thrown right at the head of the sadness- the sadness disperses. You look over at Pearl, and Bonnie is looking at Pearl too. You sigh and move on, at least someone took down the sadness. To the snack room you go now. Well, break room, but who are you to care about that?

Chapter Text

You sit down, This is the first snack break, right? Well, it doesn’t really matter, you're sick of all the food right now. And now you need to worry about Pearl- they seemed to like fruit, but… wait- do Not-banana chips count? Are they like normal cats and can’t have chocolate? Like Fruit is okay, but what else do Slugcats eat? What about rice- you know that Bonnie adds apples into the onigiri, but can Pearl digest the rice?? 

 “This room feels different than the others, doesn't it? It's missing the threatening pressure the rest of the House has.” Isabeau says as you guys walk in- okay, yep first snack room. How did you forget?  Have you really been through the house so many times you're forgetting the order of things? 

Before you could remember what Bonnie says, Bonnie yells, “MY TIME! MY TIME! MY TIME TO BE THE LEADER!!!” Oh crap- you forgot just how loud they can be, Pearl jumped quite a bit at this too…

Okay- now it's time to sit down, you make Pearl put their spear in the corner just to be safe. Don’t want them holding it everywhere, it seems to put Odile a bit on edge, but you can’t blame her- after all, having a creature you barely know about hold something that can potentially kill you or someone else could set anyone on edge. But you know Pearl wont hurt them, and even if they do- maybe you could force Loop to watch them, bonding experience for both. And it lets Loop talk to someone else besides you, you’re sure they were also getting a bit sick of talking to you- but who are you to say that? 

Okay- the coin flip seems to have finished and now Bonnie is bringing out the snacks. Okay- you're ready for Bonnie’s loud voice again.

“Some PLANTAIN CHIPS!!!!” they hold out the Not-banana chips, yep- now the cookies… and then the… … ONIGIRI yes- onigiri that's what those Ka Buan rice triangles are called. Wow; your memory is getting worse by the loop.

You see Pearl eyeing the cookies, and you hold them next to you.

“I doubt you can have Chocolate, Pearl.” you look down on them, giving them that stern look so they get the point. Pearl nods, but continues to look at the cookies. You hope they have decent self control when it comes to food. Should you take the Chips for Pearl..? You remember you gag at the scent at them anytime you pick them… Well, if it’s so Pearl doesn’t die on you again, so be it. 

"Some chips, please." once you say that Bonnie comes over to you with the chips and pours them into your hands. Pearl sits down next to you and you give them some. Holding your breath you eat a few- act normal, it's not hard. 

While you watch Pearl eat the chips- the smell hits you, but this time you can manage a somewhat normal face. But dying from that banana so many times is not the nicest thing to remember out of all the ways you died- you're not even too sure Pearl can go forward in a loop with you just yet, but that's for another loop to figure out.

You swallow the chips- yep, you really don't like them anymore. But you can say the same about all the food you eat during the loops, Pearl seems to be munching happily on the chips though- you really don’t want to find out what happens if they do eat chocolate. If they’re anything like a cat- they probably shouldn’t eat that stuff.

Bonnie looks up from their snacks.

“S-So? Do you all like it? Did I do a good job as Snack Leader?” stuff goes on, you know this all too well, these stupid, BLINDING LINES-

“"THANK YOU SNACK LEADER FOR THIS DELICIOUS MEAL!" you exclaim loudly, Don’t make Bonnie sad. You don’t like seeing them sad. Don't be a jerk.

Well, that takes care of that- and now Pearl is sitting in your lap, you can’t move, you're now stuck because of the untold rules about cats made by the Universe. Or maybe just because it feels wrong to remove cat’s from your lap or in general. Do other people feel this way? Or is it only you? 

Odile is looking at you, giving you that weird face again. “So- Siffrin, what's the deal with the …. Slugcat?” 

Crap- what do you say, this is off script territory, you need to hurry and answer ANSWER!

“Oh- Pearl?” -good enough. And Pearl looks at you as you say their name now, it seems they picked up it is their name- you're not too sure what their real name is, but it’s not like you can talk to animals- or anyone for that matter. 

Mirabelle chimes in “Yeah I saw.. Pearl on you when you were waking up from your nap- do you know them from somewhere or are you secretly an animal whisper?” 

Bold of her to assume you can whisper to animals, or that you were waking up. Well technically waking up from dying but that's nothing. Now, what’s a good way to respond to this? You're so used to the normal script that it's kinda hard to make a good reply. Now what's a good and humorous way to reply… you got nothing.

“Well, Pearl picked me, I didn’t pick Pearl.” yeah, that's the best you can do- Stars, you're so tired.

“Oh! I’ve heard about stuff like this! It's something about how animals pick you- you don’t pick them.” Mirabelle sounds a bit disappointed at that last part, well, she has been rejected by cats when she tries to pet them..

“Yeah- I met Pearl one day, and they seem to have taken a liking to me-” you pet Pearl’s head, but Pearl is still eating and doesn’t appreciate the affection, so you stop. You get it, you like your food too.

“Okay- But WHEN did you meet Pearl?” Odile is suspicious of you- you can see it with the look she is giving you. Now you need a good answer, well there is always the next loop for you to polish your lines. 

Wait- you're forgetful, this can work in your favor this time “Honestly, I don’t remember.” you have a good excuse! If Odile buys it..

“Siffrin, we really do need to get your memory checked-” Isabeau is now joining in, it seems- now everyone is looking at you in disappointment, well- what did you expect. Either way, you deserve it.

“Well- does it really matter?” Pearl seems done eating the chips and allows you to hold them, you wish you could take your gloves off so you can feel their texture- sure it's fluffy, but smooth? Whatever.

“Well, considering how attached you seem to be to them, it's good to at least know.” Yeah Odile makes a point. But you can’t help the fact you’ve got ‘bad memory’ well- not this time, but technically! So you just shrug, this will get your family off your back for a while at least.

Chapter Text

 You get up- wait nope; you can’t, Pearl is refusing to budge. Wait- this is a good time to ask,

“is it wrong to move cats?” there is a tone of worry in your voice as you say that- you swear you might be sweating right now. 

 Mirabelle looks at you, giving you a firm expression.

“Siffrin, we DON’T move cats, so if one sits on you, you’re not allowed to move unless the cat removes itself from your lap, Why do you ask-?” she realizes that Pearl seems to follow these rules, and giggles a bit.

 Isabeau gives you a smirk, it’s your cue to make a joke! HURRY, “I think I'm… in-cat-pacitated.” You give a sly smirk, Isabeau laughs loudly, Bonnie seems disappointed in your very existence, and Mira gives a small giggle.

“BAD FRIN BAD!” Bonnie gives that angry look, you know they’re not really mad, just losing hope in you as a child does. And Odile, gives a small smirk but goes back to her strict demeanor. 

 OH, you can start a round of puns now- but crap. What are some good ones… you remember having a good one, what was it… wait, no it was the one you just said… oh! “Guys. this seems to be quite the-”

Bonnie butts in. “Frin, No.” you continue anyway “Cat-tastrophe” Isabeau laughs louder, ohhh.. if you had more puns, you would keep going, but Pearl seems to hate your puns as much as Bonnie, it seems. Well, Pearl now needs to live with it, you hope they understand this isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last. 

Before Bonnie speaks up- “Don’t worry I’ll stop now.”

 “Booo..” Isabeau seems a bit disappointed...

Ah, you wish you can continue going, but your mind is still… figuring out this new script, yeah. Will Pearl allow you to is also a question, but one you’ll have to find out later. 

 Pearl looks at you, then they finally get off. Allowing you to finally stand up… yeah okay- second floor now. Remember to grab the stupid key from the classroom. Classroom is.. east, yeah. 

You give Pearl over to Bonnie who gladly takes their hand, and you also give Pearl back their spear. May as well learn to trust them with it- may even help. You walk out of the room with everyone, 

And you head to the West wing, past the frozen person in the hallway, and you see the gardening room, you walk past it… you know now that one will touch you back so it's a pointless endeavor. Okay- Head Housemaiden’s office…  okay- Rock key… under the drawer… Odile starts her lines-

“So this is the office of…” you’ve heard this far too many times. Just zone out and leave- watch the boulder fall and then open the next hallway. 

You walk past the frozen person with the bonding earring and the sadness into the library. Make a beeline to the bookshelf and open the book: Effort: The Key To Meaningful Change. And you pull out the Paper key, the key being in a ‘key’ book is fun enough already, but what makes it even better is that it’s the paper key. That's always nice…

Okay- did you remind Mira about the CARROT method?? Best to double check… so you open the secret door and ignore the commentary. You enter the room and head over to the book about shields. Yep, you hear the interaction- seems like you did forget to tell her.

You realize Bonnie is now giving Pearl a piggy-back ride. Or well, Pearl is on their hat, well- it seems to make it easier for the two.

Okay, now it's time for you to head straight to the East wing and grab the crying key. Now to the Crest… defeat the sadness and head to the two rows of tears.

 Bonnie speaks up; “Two rows of tears…BUT ONLY ONE CREST!!” okay- at least this part remains normal, and Bonnie lets Pearl down and then heads to the top row of tears with Odile joining them shortly afterwards… okay- Odile’s line now.

“Siffrin. You're the tiebreaker.” 

 Pearl walks over to you and tugs on your cloak. Well, this climb of the House doesn’t matter anyway, so they can pick- they’re pointing to the top row.

“You sure Pearl?” they walk over to it and-

“CRAB YEAH!!!” Bonnie’s loud voice comes up, but as you head over- Pearl stops you? And then motions you to pick them up… and points to the door again.

“Pearl- you're not suggesting that- I throw you over?” Pearl nods frantically. Well, It does have no sadnesses… but how will they get back?

Odile looks at you. “Siffrin, are you really thinking of chucking the Slugcat over the row of tears?” you look down at Pearl, who looks up at you, then looks at the door past the row of tears again. 

 “Maybe…” you hold Pearl, well if all goes wrong, you’ll just loop back anyway.

“Frin. No." Even Bonnie is against the idea it seems, well maybe if Pearl knows how to get back it will put their minds at ease.

You look back at Pearl- “Do you have a plan on how to get back?” Pearl nods- well, okay then.

 “Siffrin… Please don’t chuck Pearl…” Mirabelle seems to be worried, oh well. You are strong enough now to do this, but you wouldn't be when the loops started. You might want to convince Isa…

“Well, Pearl has a plan to get back over here.” Pearl nods and seems to really want to do it… wow so much determination in such a small critter, but they can tell you’re not gonna throw them. So they jump down and moves their hands up so Isabeau can hold them. 

 Isabeau, a bit confused, picks Pearl up. And Pearl points to the door ahead of the tears.

“Am I the one who really has to do this?” Isabeau sheds a single tear, well- it’s either Isa or Pearl leaps off your head or something, Wait, no- you're too short for crying out loud. Stars, you wish you were at least a few inches taller than you are right now. 

 
 “Isa, you're the strongest one here- in physical strength anyway.” Yeah that was one of the smartest things you’ve said so far, at least this is one they know. Well- they wont find out about how strong you are now, after all- you won't let them.

 Pearl gets impatient and climbs onto Isa’s head and then-

“Isa you might want to-” before you can even warn him, Pearl leaps off his head and he stumbles backwards to the tears- Woah! You reach out to catch him, but recoil your hand quickly as he catches himself.

Thank the stars- if he touched those tears- no, don't think about that right now.

 Pearl has landed safely on the other side it seems and rolls into the Infirmary. Odile looks at you and tries to say something, but Pearl comes out of the room, rolling, and leaps over the tears right at- OW. Right into you. Everyone winces a bit at this.

“You good Sif…?” Isabeau comes over to your side- the best you can do is a thumbs up while Pearl recovers and gets off your chest, then Bonnie places Pearl back onto their hat, petting them in the process with a huge grin on their face.  

 “Yeah- I’m fine.” You get up and brush off your cloak as one does.

 Pearl has something in their hands- it's the Super Sweet Tonic… do they know you don’t really need to grab those anymore? And they give it to Bonnie for safe keeping and then hold their hand.

 “Well- should we use the crest on the other row of tears?” you look at the others.

 “Might as well-” Odile sighs so you use the crest on the bottom row of tears. Isabeau and Mirabelle look at each other and hold that look of victory if you choose their side- well, thankfully not everything changes.

 So, you head down- dash past the sadness and into the trap room- wait you should’ve gone into the storage room for that glass shard… no- not now just grab the key and then head to the west wing, don’t think about the glass right now. You're fine. Peachy, even!

 Okay- ignore how much you want to carve wood again, or that you might never be able to ever again and grab the key. Then make your way back to the Central Room… okay, Strong Sadness time.

Chapter Text

You look at the door and clutch the scissors key,-how many times have you been at this exact door again? At this point you could memorize the finest details in the door if you really wanted to. They’re all the same anyway. Four circles on each ‘corner’ with circles in those circles, then the dot in the middle. 

You put the key in. and the door slowly opens as always.

Heading into the next hallway, you see the two strong sadnesses. As always, you go for the long-haired on first, after all- killing that one first gives the short-haired one less power than if the short-haired one was to kill them. Why do they even sacrifice themself to the other? 

They both go down in only a few hits. Just speeding the party and slowing the sadnesses down doesn't even let the sadnesses attack. But- it does make stuff go faster.

You head over to the break room, or well- the ‘snack room’ and then- “This room feels safe too, doesn't it?” right on cue, Mirabelle. And then after the normal conversation goes on, you sit down with everyone- Bonnie takes Pearl over to where they make the snacks to let Pearl watch them. 

You zone out until it's your line, “Bonnie forgot to tie their shoe!” Okay, now the script will continue. And Isa says his lines. You really wish this would apply to you, or any of them- but it doesn’t matter. It will never happen anyway! It never can! Because it can't! Oh, how you wish it could, but you're stuck in these good-for-nothing loops! And if you truly can’t escape... Pearl is stuck with you. You don’t want them to end up like you, you really don’t. 

Odile talks about ‘gemmakers’. You still think being turned into a diamond is quite hardcore, but it is cool to think about. You would ask about the diamonds Odile has attached to her glasses- but you don’t want to make her uncomfortable if it’s a touchy subject for her. So, you won’t ask.

Mirabelle looks at you anxiously “...What about you, Siffrin?” you wish your answer would matter, but it really doesn’t. It never will. “It doesn’t matter.” and you went off-script, great job. 

Everyone looks at you, you pull down the rim of your hat to hide your face. You really don’t want to talk about it. 

You hear Isa’s voice, “Sif…” but then he gets cut off from Bonnie.

“...Hey, are you done talking?” Bonnie jumps over and holds out the snacks- you're pretty sure Pearl can eat any of these. Maybe not the madeleines, but- you don’t know too much about animals in general.

Pearl, well- sits next to Bonnie and makes a little squeak as they’re given some pineapple. They seem to really like it as well, you wish you could eat pineapple- but alas it was not meant to be. After eating pineapple for those first few times- well, you died every single time, but after a few times you can clearly describe what they do to you- first off, you’re only affected once you eat it- it has a spicy taste, then you feel your throat tighten and burn- and you slowly choke to death! Still tasted good though- would try again. 

But you take the madeleines this time instead of the fish head. Doesn’t matter what you eat- you're getting sick of everything, and even after eating all you can- you still feel hungry! Do you even need to eat food anymore at his point? You're hungry no matter what you seem to do and eat. 

Maybe you’ll do that when you feel like throwing up. But that's not right now- but it feels like you're getting to that point. 

Isabeau finishes eating and sits next to you- but sadly enough, not too closely. But this is new, you did something wrong didn’t you? Are you eating slowly- yeah you would’ve been done a minute ago if you remembered your eating habits! Stupid- stupid, Stupid! 

“Sooooo, Sif, Siffrin, buddy...” he raises his hand just above your shoulder, but drops it down to his side- just like he does at the Favor tree. “Do you want to talk?” 

This sounds similar to what you’ve heard before- would your answers then work now? Wait- this isn’t until the third floor why is he saying this now? What did you even say-

"What about?" YEAH, right- yeah… that was it- hopefully. His next line was something following the lines of-

“Oh, okay, we're ignoring-” and you zone out for the rest now remembering your lines- you just say them on que. You’ll never have the ‘feelings talky-talk’ you know that for sure. 

Everyone finishes their snacks. Both Bonnie and Pearl have pineapple on their faces. And Pearl’s cheeks are round, probably like the way Isabeau says ‘Your cheeks get all big and round! Like a cute hamster!’ Now you have a bit of an image of what that actually looks like. Yeah- it does make Pearl look cute. 

You head through the door to the third floor. You see something- Off, like that odd thing Pearl ate. There are quite a few as well- like worms thicker in the middle where they have wings, dragonfly looking wings to be exact, they all have different shades to them- 

Pearl leaps overs and catches one- AND EATS IT. STARS, okay- time to stop questioning what the Slugcat eats, what Pearl eats is what Pearl eats- and if they die from it, that's their fault. But you better grab them before they eat any more weird creatures.

You pick them up, they lept pretty far- almost on the staircase.  

As you pick them up- you suddenly feel a sense of dread looming next to you- and you turn around as Pearl manages to grab another one. And you see a MUCH bigger version of the creature- and it’s noodly… mouth? Retracts and slowly shows a VERY SHARP and long needle. 

"Stars. Pearl, what have you done??" You say, narrowing your eyes at the large creature.

Chapter Text

 
 You move a bit, but the worm-fly? Noodle-fly? Follows your movements, thankfully Pearl lets go of the smaller version, not eating it this time (thankfully). 

Pearl slips out of your hands into a defensive position, gripping the spear with both arms, wait why are they- the creature flies a bit backwards, like it's charging up. Your Family prepares to attack, and right when you see that- like a thrown spear, the creature flings itself right at you. 

 Evading the attack (and almost falling on your face), you look at the thing, and it seems to need a bit of time to get its needle out of the ground. Mira seems to take this chance and attack with a scissors attack- but it recovers. And is only looking at you and Pearl. 

Everyone is trying to hit the thing, but it’s simply too quick- a bit too fast for you as well! 

Pearl throws their spear at it and misses, and the spear gets stuck in the pillar behind you. Well, this is going horribly. It looks frail, but it's quite fast- just how you used to be!

The Noodle gets ready to launch itself again- and right before you can ‘Just Attack’, it launches itself- Right. At. Pearl. 

A clean hit, it easily goes through Pearl’s chest- sliding right through like thread. Even when Pearl dies- you don’t loop back, so you grab your dagger and- 

You snap back to reality in the second snack room. And look right where Pearl is sitting, next to Bonnie- and they seem… unaffected? They touch their chest for a moment and immediately go back to their pineapple- like that was nothing. 

… you’re going to check in on them when you get a moment of peace with them- maybe back at Dormont. That was something that certainly would affect anyone, Slugcat or not. 

You wish you could loop to wherever you wanted, but if you die on a floor- you're sent to the snack room. You can only get back to Dormont if the King kills you or when you reach the natural end of the loops. And well- dying in Dormont brings you back to the start when you wake up in Dormont, but even that helps. 

You wait until Pearl and everyone is done eating and head back out, gripping the handle of your dragger- for when you see that monster of a noodle.

But, you don’t see traces of it anywhere- no mini versions of it flying around, nothing? But it was here a loop ago! Okay, double check- there must be something, anything! You KNOW there are no traps on this floor- you’ve been through it so many times! You know where all the sadnesses are- but that THING, it isn’t even here anymore! 

Yeah- it’s not here, okay. This may sound weird- but maybe, JUST MAYBE the last loop was a dream! YEAH- sure definitely!

Pearl gets into a defensive stance again- OKAY MAYBE IT WASN'T.

“Pearl- is something wrong?” Bonnie looks at Pearl, and the Pearl lets go of their hand and moves ahead of you- looks up at you then nods, seemingly wanting you to back them up if needed.

Well, it seems Pearl knows what they’re doing- may as well follow them if they know anything of that noodle from before. 

They look around a bit and then lock onto something- and proceed to flip and throw their spear up, hitting something but the spear gets knocked and flings to the east side of the room.

How did Pearl’s throw not affect whatever they hit? That spear went into the wall from a practice throw, whatever you're dealing with may even be worse than that noodle-of-a-fly.

You see an area of shades shift around and movement- “did anyone else see that?” Odile is preparing a crafted attack, perceptive as always. Mirabelle seems like her anxiety is at an all-time high- “yeah- I did” and grips her Rapier Needle Sword.

You hear an odd growl- whatever the creature is this time, it’s VERY stealthy- more than you! And you're pretty sneaky! 

It drops to the ground with a VERY loud thud. It's like some odd overgrown chameleon, or lizard! 

Its shades shift, Stars- it hasn’t even been like 20 minutes into this loop! If you die now- well, if Pearl keeps on dying, you're gonna have them hold onto someone at all times until you get to the King or Head housemaiden so you can get back to Dormont and hopefully have Loop watch over them for a bit- might do the both of them some good.  

Pearl throws a rock at the thing’s head- it just bounces off, but jerks the creature’s head back just in time for you to hit the overgrown lizard with a scissors attack, the thing is too chubby to evade the attack fast enough so you get a clean hit on it, and it stops moving… “Hit it one more time to be sure?” you look back at your family, and Mirabelle takes another hit on the thing. It shifts shades quickly, with… it looked off for a second, but it eventually goes limp. 

Pearl walks to the East side of the room and grabs their spear and heads over to the cubby chameleon- and gives it a little poke. And throws their spear into the side to be sure, then pulls out the spear and looks at everyone- giving what they can of a ‘thumbs-up’ and walks back to Bonnie's side, who gladly takes their paw/hand?

“Anyone know what this thing is?” Odile looks at the creature- pulling out her notebook and crouching down to the lizard but staying a bit away just to be safe. But she also looks back at Pearl and flips to a page of notes she may have written about them. 

Everyone also comes around the chameleon thingy- if you keep on finding creatures like these, may as well give them something to identify them with, and somehow you remember the word ‘chameleon’ of all things, but it fits- so that's what you’ll call this thing. Maybe you can give that noodle thing a name too, it feels like Noodlefly would work, after all- that's basically what it is. 

You look over at Odile’s notebook as she flips through pages- there seems to be a rushed description of the Noodlefly- but, you haven’t run into it this loop? You’ll need to look into that notebook sometime in the future loops. 

After all- you don’t know how many weird sadnesses creatures you’ll run into at this rate. 

Chapter Text

Okay, they’re all poking the lizard now, better hope Bonnie doesn’t want to cook it. You’re not going to butcher an overgrown lizard in the House. 

“Does anyone know what this even is?” Mirabelle is panicking- a lot, you swear that she sometimes has enough anxiety to power a bomb. “Like it was even able to change shades!” She's shaking. A lot. 

Despite Pearl being picky with who can touch them, Pearl goes up to Mirabelle and lets Mira pick them up, though reluctantly. “You sure?” Mira crutches down to Pearl’s level, and Pearl nods their little head along with making grabby hands. 

“It seems you have won Pearl’s affection” you smile and look at the both of them, Pearl seems really comfortable in that hug- you don’t really know how good Mira’s hugs are, but they seem pretty good from how Pearl's reacting- you can even hear Pearl… purring? You would ask for a hug yourself- but that’s embarrassing. Life-ending, even.

Odile finishes taking notes, stands up and looks at Mirabelle, sighing.

“Well, let's get going now, keep an eye out for anything unusual” and you guys start walking, and Mira keeps Pearl close to her. 

Bonnie looks up at Pearl, and they smile at each other along with Bonnie giving a thumbs up- like this was planned or something. 

But either way, you make it to the East wing of this floor and work your way over to the mirror room. All you need to do is take the picture, grab the key on the floor, and head over to the West wing. 

But it may be nice to see Pearl in the picture as well, you wonder what spot they’ll be in when it’s taken, maybe right in front of everyone with Bonnie? Or because Mira is holding them- in Mira’s arms.

Before you enter the hallway where the mirror room is, something feels- wrong again. And it seems Pearl notices too. Stars, what is it this time? 

Oh- more weird plants! Like worms acting as a patch of grass on the ground, but it’s thick and moving like waves! And it starts tilting towards you frantically, like some impatient child wanting food. 

Pearl jumps down from Mira’s arms, sliding out of her grasp smoothly. And stands in front of the grass- looking like they have some past experiences with it, and not good ones from what you can tell. Seems like this plant is in fact, bad news. “You know something about this little bud?” Isabeau stands next to Pearl, and Pearl still looks at the grass, like they’re done looking at it. But they give a small, annoyed squeak in confirmation. 

Okay- these seem like a bad thing, maybe you could chuck Pearl over these as well? Would they even be able to figure out how to get the key? Well, the (Plant?) is quite short, maybe you can just walk through? You have shoes- so you think you’ll be fine.

Not even able to take a single step forward, Pearl stops you by putting their paw out. 

“What? I got shoes. I’ll be fine~” STARS you sounded like Loop there. They’re rubbing off on you, and that's the last thing you want happening. 

You look over at Pearl and see the look on their face- Yeah, they’re not buying it. Stubborn little kitty. You wish they could talk, but animals can’t talk silly! Well, you’ve heard stories about people being able to talk to their pets after living with them for so long, but you doubt that's true. After all, no one can read minds- well, Loop may be the exception. 

 Wait- If you loop back again… will it change? Well- the Noodlefly disappeared, maybe it will be a different creature than odd worm grass? Well, maybe for the sake of Pearl you’ll use the tears this time. 

 Bonnie throws something into the odd grass, and one moment you see it- the other moment it’s gone. What did they throw into it?? It looked like the other fish head, the one that wasn't eaten by you this time. Did the grass- eat it?? 

 “Well- that was quick.” Odile breathes in and scribbles down more notes in her notebook. Bonnie looks surprised, like waiting for something to happen- just like the time you got that heavy book from the library, and they asked Odile to slam it into the counter again. 

 “That was faster than Frin eating their food!” Bonnie points at the grass while calling you out- ow. Right in the heart- being bullied by a child hurts the most.

“Good comparison, Boniface.” Odile looks down at her notebook with a smirk. Is no one going to defend you? “Honestly I don’t know how Siffrin doesn’t choke on their food while scarfing it down.” 

 “Hmrf.” If only you could taste anything now, but after eating the same things for so long- everything seems to have lost its flavor, it can’t even fill your hollow stomach anymore. So, you shouldn’t even think about it.

 “Sif, you know you look like a hamster when you eat?” Isabeau is smiling at you- wait! You know what to say properly this time without any weird looks!

"No I don't." yes! Good! A script to follow and not some weird creature with a long needle for a mouth to kill you with! 

 You follow the script as normal, say the pun- Pearl makes a sound that indicates annoyance- followed by Bonnie and Odile booing at you. Wow, are Mira and Isa the only one who do appreciate your little puns and one-liners?

But- back to the worm grass, yeah- If Pearl won't let you go any further, may as well touch a tear and see how that works out. So, you quickly make your way to the main room and throw yourself into a tear. 

Chapter Text

You snap your eyes open at the second snack room, you look around and see Pearl giving you a dead-pan stare right at you. And they go back to eating the pineapple again- keeping that face while eating. 

Well- hopefully the worm-grass is gone, but you don’t even know what creature might have taken its place.

You wait for everyone to finish eating and head back to the central room- expecting some alien creature to show up, but- nothing this time. You look over at Pearl, they’re acting like everything is normal in this room- is there nothing to be worried about?

Well- it looks like there is something, it just looks out of place- like a big pole sticking out of the ground in the corner of the room. 

“That's…weird?” Mira is looking at the pole, Pearl turns around to look at it.

Pearl goes over to the pole- grabbing one of the bricks on the ground as they walk. They keep a small distance from it- and proceed to chuck said brick at it. 

It moves??? When it doesn’t look like a pole- it looks like one of those plants in a forest- curly, long skinny leaves on a single strand, those plants have a name- you’ll have to ask someone when you get the chance-

“It looks like some big crabbing fern!!!” Bonnie says, looking proud of themselves- wait! Oh yes, a fern! How did you forget that? 

“Nice observation boniface-” Odile, is looking at her notes- gives them a suspicious glance and flips to the next clean page and starts writing stuff down. “Can someone throw another brick at it?” which Pearl speaks in confirmation and gladly does so. But before they can- one of the sadness in the room comes up to it and touches it- and the pole retracts into the ground.

The sadness screeches. Stars, that sounded worse than the King’s cry! 

“Well that was- something?” Isabeau looks a bit worried for a second before you all jump when the plant comes back out. “Stay away from the big fern thing?” you hear Bonnie say with a bit of a worry in their voice

Odile eyes Pearl, which Pearl returns the suspicious glare. But slowly walks over to the pole plant.

“Buddy- you might not want to get close to that pole?” Isabeau looks at Pearl with worry, but Pearl just grunts and rolls their eyes, as if saying, ‘I know what i'm doing’ but with a very ticked off tone- Like some grumpy teenager ignoring their parents. 

They stay a good distance away, and they proceed to sloppily chuck their spear into the plant. Pearl runs towards it and grabs their spear before the pole plant can take it, backflipping to avoid getting dragged down.

Pearl looks back at the spot and look like they’re reliving a bad memory. A horrific one by that means. 

You wait for Odile to finish writing down some notes.

“Okay- if anything weird appears, we’re having the cat take care of it.” Odile puts her notebook away while looking at Pearl with a stern look- which Pearl returns while slowly walking back to Bonnie’s side- who gladly takes their hand again, smiling like they’re doing a good job. Which they are, but Bonnie doesn’t take your praise anymore unless you do the ‘friend quest’ with them again. 

Well, now that’s taken care of- it’s time to grab that forsaken smiling key. 

While walking though that hallway, you walk right next to some stick? Spear? And shortly after you- 

Not even a moment later you wake back up in the blinding snack room. Stars- you can’t even make it to the mirror room! This time it felt like something big dropped onto you and crushed your skull? What even was that? Did you miss a boulder- no that's impossible, there are only two body-crushing traps in the house. 

And Pearl is looking at you like you're an idiot or something- do they have a problem or something? 

They quickly scarf down their pineapple and head over to you, and proceed to lay in your lap- great. Okay- if you can’t physically remove cats off your lap, maybe you can convince them? “Pearl- we kinda need to advance into the next room soon?” they look at you and proceed to grunt. Seems like words won't work. 

Even when everyone is done eating- Pearl remains on your lap. It's now up to your family to help with this fruitless endeavor. You doubt they can help you now.  

“Pearl- please?” you try to poke them, but it still feels like you're breaking the unsaid rule if you do so. 

Bonnie comes over- and takes Pearl’s hand, which is enough to convince them to get off you. Seems like the rules don't apply to kids, the Universe works in weird ways.. 

Okay, now that you're no longer bound by that law of the Universe, you’re free to move!

So you get up and head back to the central room, cautiously- because you’ll kill yourself if you die again before reaching the BLINDING mirror room. 

And- yep absolutely nothing this time- no weird poles, lizards, noodle-flies, along with no odd reaction from Pearl! So you just make your way to the mirror room, and there is nothing weird in this hallway too! Well, besides a pole past the row of tears, but that means it doesn’t matter. 

You look back at your family, Pearl is nested on top of Bonnie’s hat- 

And with that you make your way into the mirror room and look at the mirror, waiting for Isabeau to take the picture until you get through the house.

Chapter Text

“Everyone, say ‘FROMAGE’!” Isabeau yells before flicking the switch. Which makes Pearl jump and fall from Bonnie’s hat. 

You hear a small thud when Pearl hits the ground, they rub their eyes, but pick themselves up and quickly somewhat recover.

“Wh-WHAT WAS THAT?!?” you hear Bonnie yell before they quickly realize Pearl fell off their hat- they apologize (that's a first, well if it was to you that is) and takes Pearl’s hand as the conversation goes on. 

Isabeau hands the picture to you, and you smile as you receive it.

Gazing at the picture, you realize that your smile looks more unhinged then last time. You ignore it, putting it in one of your dozens of pockets.

You walk forward, picking up the key.

“Are we good to go?” you look back at everyone and a dizzy looking Pearl, who gives you a nod in response. So, you proceed and head to the west wing with the smiling key in hand. 

You seem to be good so far- no odd creatures this time, even when you get to the hallway that separates the pottery studio and the observatory hallway. Okay, maybe you should stop worrying so much right now- nothing is going to happen. 

You quickly grab the Angry key from the closet and then dash quickly back to the east wing and to the Sadness that holds the crest. Pearl takes the lead on this one after they tug on your cloak and point to it, giving a small squeak as well (cute). 

And when you enter the room, Pearl chucks their spear at it, ending the thing's life- basically instantly. Everyone is looking at Pearl, the adults confused and surprised, and Bonnie looks very proud,

“CRAB YEAHHH” Bonnie shouts really loud behind everyone- giving you a small jump.

“Well- that certainly is… interesting.” Odile regains her composure and is taking notes again, and looks even more confused as she flips through some of the pages. 

Pearl also picks up the crest and- “Pearl, don’t you dare swallow that-” you manage to catch them before they put it in their mouth. They pout and give it to you reluctantly. But it seems they picked another thing up- and quickly swallow that when they think no one is looking. 

Pearl grabs their spear and you head back to the west corridors- suddenly hearing a loud THUD coming from behind the final door, followed by a low growl. It seems Pearl heard it too but no one really pays any mind to it. Whatever is behind that door, it better not cause you any grief when you get to it. 

You make it to the row of tears that unlock the pathway to the shrine. Thankfully, even though you're paranoid- this seems to overall be a normal loop.  

And now you're in the bathroom, but you just sit outside in the hallway this time with Pearl. Time to try to interrogate them.

“Okay, I saw you swallow something back in the crest room- what was it” you try to say this in your most serious voice, in which you succeed in doing, this makes Pearl look down- as they proceed to seemingly take it out.

Well, would you look at that- It's a pearl! But it’s an odd-looking shade? You're not too sure how to describe it, it’s not the shade of whatever that flower was that Pearl ate, but it feels close? 

Pearl swallows it right before everyone exits the bathroom. In which you stand up and pat their head, that seemed to make them happy and a bit relaxed. 

Odile says her normal lines then turns towards you and Pearl “are you two ready to go?” in which you nod, and Pearl gives what they can of a thumbs-up. “Good. Let's get going then, shall we?” 

You make your way over to the Prayer Room and look at the statue. Isa starts his lines.

“...Well, I thought there'd be something in this room, but…” the script passes by, and you watch everyone silently pray you don’t join them. not yours, not yours, not yours.

You wait to be given the key knife but as the room flashes- it seems like it was given to Pearl? Yeah sure, give it to the creature that might be able to kill you, or evenly take you on. 

Mira looks worried “Wh-what are you holding there???” and then Bonnie- in what could be the loudest voice they can manage

“A KNIFE!!!!!!!!!!” In response, your body jumps along with Pearl’s ears fold down in attempts to drown out the noise. 

After the conversation goes on you're ‘beamed’ back to the central room, and you manage to keep still when you arrive, but you can’t say the same for everyone else. 

You and Odile look at each other and the script continues.

You make your way to the door (well it’s more just a wall of hair) and you look at Pearl who is holding the knife, they try to slash through it, but it seems like they’re better with throwing more than- well slashing.

“Here let me help you with that-” Bonnie takes the knife, well not that you don’t trust them with a knife- they’re better at dicing vegetables than any of you, but you really SHOULDN'T trust a kid with a dagger...

Before they swing at the hair, you hear that loud thud again. Okay, yeah, Bonnie should NOT be the one ahead of everyone even if it is just to cut through some hair, you can’t risk them getting hurt. 

“Bonnie, I think I should handle the dagger-” right before they object, Pearl squeaks in confirmation- which is enough for them to hand the Key Knife over to you without any complaints. 

 You grip the Key Knife, and then you swing at the hair.

Chapter Text

You and your family make your way through the hallway. Before you can even take 5 steps into the room, Mira swears under her breath, looking ahead. the Strong Sadness isn’t, well- alive? But instead you see this huge oddly shaded lizard, eating it? And to say the lizard is longer than how tall the Head Housemaiden is more then accurate. 

It’s swallowing down the goop that the sadness left behind, first off- gross! But you can't really judge an animal’s food choices.

Pearl has booked over to the other side of the hallway and is trying their best to get everyone else's attention quietly by flailing their arms around with their spear, they look scared, horrified even. 

Before you can work on making your way to the other side of the room quietly, the lizard takes one more bite and then looks around until it locks eyes with yours.

The lizard slowly backs up and everyone quickly gets into their battle stance.

“Be careful everyone, I don’t think this creature will be going down easily,” Odile says as she starts preparing her craft.

Odile has a point; the creature’s jaws look like they can snap you easily in two.

But you do want to get rid of the thing quickly- looking at it is giving you a really bad headache.

Before you can even strike the thing spits something at you. whatever it spat at you, it made you hit the ground hard- only making your headache worse and not being able to get up for the time being.

Mira looks at you; “okay, I’ll be the one to say it- what the crab is that THING?” She tries to attack the head of the creature, but her craft just seems to bounce off. 

“Well, I don’t think it’s a sadness.” Isabeau does a craft that brings up everyone’s defense. “But how would it be able to get here in the first place? This place doesn’t have any windows or any other way to enter other than the huge door up front.” 

“And it’s giving me a crabbing headache!” Bonnie says that in their louder-than-inside-volume voice while they come over to check on you, but you manage to get up and gulp down the sour tonic they give you. You thank them and do your craft to speed everyone up. This thing- well, best to expect the unexpected. 

Odile throws her rock craft at the thing, which makes it bounce backwards exposing the belly. Mirabelle readies her rapier.

“Isabeau- give your turn to me!” Mira, with her attack now boosted, drives her rapier through the lizard, but it doesn’t go all the way through, so she has to quickly pull it out and move back. “Its skin is quite thick-” she is cut off by the lizard throwing its horribly long tongue at her, aiming for her weapon. 

Isabeau hops in just in time to deflect the tongue.

“Okay- tough leather, spits out stuff and has a crabbing long tongue, doesn’t remind me of any creature I know- and that shade…” while he’s talking, you continuously attack the lizard, not down yet? Another slice then, and another- but it won't budge. 

Before you can strike again, it moves and freezes for a bit- then slowly turns its head to look behind, towards Pearl. 

Quickly- Pearl's face goes from that of a confident stance to a horrified expression in seconds, but with the lizard now turned around, it gives you just the opening you need. 

Odile and Mirabelle take this opportunity as well to attack the lizard, so you all strike as hard as you can.  

After a while, the thing goes limp- Mira is catching her breath, Isabeau is checking on everyone while Bonnie runs over to Pearl to help calm them the best they can. You’re poking the lizard, and it shakes horrifically like it was having a seizure or something, but you can tell it’s dead because the weird shade it's covered in is fading.

“Okay, we’re all good right now?” You turn to look, making sure everyone has collected themselves;

Pearl still looks very scared.

But you all head to the snack room to settle down. 

Bonnie and Pearl head over to the corner of the room to work on the snacks, though the poor slugcat is still tense, probably because of whatever that creature was- they probably knew what it was and had a bad experience with it.

You sit down in your normal (designated?) spot in the room. Once Bonnie starts cooking, Isabeau looks at you along with everyone else. Right, he said his lines for this room during the last snack break- and you really want to get through this to hopefully drop Pearl off at Loop for a while, but you also want to try and talk to them- this must be stressing them out. 

Isabeau is the first to speak up, “okay Sif, Do you want to talk?”

Chapter Text

Okay, you’re not too sure how you can escape this- you can’t use your old lines, you already used those up last snack break. And you’re having a hard time improvising script in general, but you can get through this!

Not like they’ll remember anyway- maybe you can be emotionally vulnerable for a loop.

Wait-is this, like, selfish?

Oh well.

It doesn’t matter so you’re fine, peachy, even! 

“Well- what about?” You say.

STARS. Great job Siffrin, that's just about what you said last time- well it still kind of works? You just added another word. It's fine. You're fine.

 Mira looks over at Isa and then she looks back at you. “Well- we’ve noticed you’ve been acting… odd? I mean- I know we’re probably all stressed out right now, but...” she starts to stumble over her words “I mean- the King is right after this room and everything so it’s normal to be stressed out and- and…” after stumbling over her words for a bit, Isabeau reminds her of your ‘breathing thing’.

 Isabeau looks at you, “like I’ve said, you're acting weird, and you stop smiling every time you think we're not looking-did something happen?” 

 You look away and grip your shaking hands.

This is way harder than you thought.

Sure-- fine. just a little talk that they’ll forget about, a little talk that would bring you closer to them- to a better version of everyone you’ll just lose again, over and over and over! 

 Odile looks over at you, a suspicious glint in her eyes. “We cannot help you if you don’t speak up, Siffrin.”

You look away.

She sighs. “Siffrin, it will be easier for everyone if you just tell us what's going on right now."

 “Well- I uhm-” Honestly, you don’t know what to say. They’ll hate you if you tell them what's really going on. Even then you can’t lie- they’ll catch on immediately because you're a horrible liar. And you’re also stuttering over your words now- this will only worry them more! 

 Out of the corner of your eye, you see Pearl tug on Bonnie’s shirt and after a nod from Bonnie, Pearl comes over to you and plops themselves onto your lap without permission. You start subconsciously petting them. 

Odile speaks up again. “Siffrin; like I’ve said you need to speak up, and if you don’t I’ll work on getting the answers out of the slugcat.”-In which Pearl nods in response. “And it seems like they’re willing to comply.” 

 You can’t do this- STARS you cannot. You could try to be discreet or maybe convince them to talk about it after you’ve beaten the King and after dinner, because dinner will never happen! But you don’t even know where to start. Seems like being discreet is your only way out of this right now. 

 You take a deep breath after thinking for a bit longer.

“Yeah- something is wrong.” you keep your eye down, looking at Pearl- you realize you’re shaking. 

 There might be another way to do this but, it might seem like a stretch, but if you die during a snack break- doesn’t it loop forward to the end of it? Sure, the only case where that didn’t happen was when you did loop back but you woke up in Dormont and met Pearl. Would that work now? And you remember when you ate the pineapple it looped you to the end of the snack break. 

 Would it work now? It’s worth a shot, anything to avoid this conversation. 

 Underneath your cloak, you quickly grab a hold of the hilt of your dagger, somehow managing to make sure Pearl doesn’t shift in your lap. 

“Siffrin, what are you doing-” Odile remarks, suprised, right before you quickly bring your dagger to your neck and slice. 

You feel it. The cold metal thrusting through your major artery. The warm, flowing blood pouring out from the wound.

You hear them all freak out, even Pearl seemingly has a look grave dread and worry on their face.

You’re losing too much blood to even be able to hear them.

Mirabelle is too panicked to even try and heal you.

Isabeau is holding your body and is trying to stop the bleeding.

-And Odile is too shocked to react. Bonnie is still working on snack duty, but they're starting to turn around. Pearl quickly jumps off and covers your body so they wouldn’t be able to see the scene anyway.

After a few more seconds your vision finally gives out.

You wake up, it takes you a split second to regain your composure. And from what you can tell- you're still in the 3rd snack room! And everyone is finishing up their snacks too! The ‘feelings talky-talk’ has successfully been avoided! Well, you’re not too sure if that's a good thing or not.

You look over at Pearl to see if they’re doing okay, they look horrified- distraught. They look your way and quickly back to trying to munch on the samosa they have, even though it looks like they’re appetite is gone, they swallow it down anyway. 

They pat Bonnie’s lap to signal they would like to be released, in which they are, and Pearl makes their way over to your lap. Should you apologize? You are kind of just dragging them along on this fruitless adventure. 

“I’m sorry Pearl- but if you do want, I could try and talk to you about it later?” you say quietly at them while pulling them into a hug. “That is, only if you wish.”

You don’t want to force them into a conversation they may not even want. 

“Siffrin, did you say something...?” Odile looks over at you while you're hugging Pearl, and she quickly drops the topic, looking away.

After a while longer, you let go of Pearl and get up. Everyone follows your lead, after all- you need to kill the King again. 

Chapter Text

 You make your way through the hallway and up the stairs. You think about grabbing the Secret Ingredient, but you didn’t grab the other supplies for the bomb. 

 Pearl has latched onto your leg like a child, you need to get them off- you don’t want to bring them to the front lines of the fight. 

But you KNOW they can hold their ground, so long as they have their spear- which they don’t right now, it seems like they forgot to grab it from the side of the lizard in the previous room. So, you do need them to stay back with Bonnie while you're fighting the King- but if they do die and you get to The Head Housemaiden, will they appear at the field before? That isn’t something you want to test out.

You try to shake them off, but you can’t find the heart to do so. Bonnie seems to be the only one not being held back by the unspoken rule. But before you can even ask them, they offer Pearl to latch onto their leg- reluctantly, Pearl gets off your legs and opts for resting on Bonnie’s hat, but they keep their eye on you the entire time. 

Right before you go through the door that leads to King, Mirabelle does her talk about her roommate, this gives you a bit of time to think- you've gone through a few loops now, so what loop are you on right now? After the 100th loop ended, you met Pearl on the 101st one.

Okay, you've made it to floor 3- the noodle fly, the worm-grass, well that one was a tear. That first lizard? No, you didn't have to loop from that- or the other lizard you did encounter. You also just looped randomly somehow, when something dropped onto you.

Okay, that makes 3- and the most recent loop to escape the feelings-talky talk. It seems like you're on the 105th loop. Stuff has been going so fast you forgot to count when looping, but you manage to remember them all this time!

So Pearl has been through 5 of your loops, you don't know if they've looped in the past- they don't really think much of looping unless you horrifically kill yourself or something of that level. But, overall it seems normal enough to them.

Mirabelle is done talking, so you make your way through the door to go fight The King.

You've always thought that the hair everywhere was just gross, but you also wonder how it became that long. Sure you're not one for taking care of your hair- but this is always a bit too much- and like said, gross. 

After a few more steps into King’s room and you arrive face to face with him, you wonder if he knows about the creatures and you want to ask him why he’s so tall- it’s a good question! You know Euphrasie is like- 7 ft. tall, and he is an ungodly height! And it’s not like asking the question will kill you. 

Well- that last bit might be debatable. It won't really matter though so- onwards!

After escaping your head, you hear the talking of Mirabelle going back and forth with the King. seems like you zoned out for too long to even say anything. At least it’s familiar dialogue, you can work with this. So you get into your battle stance and the fighting starts. 

After you speed everyone else up and get Mira to put up the shield- you open your mouth to speak “Why are you so tall?" honestly- everyone is a little caught off guard when you ask the question, but the King decides to answer anyway.

“Oh... Quite honestly...It just happened.” 

This really throws everyone off-including you.

Isabeau is a mix between scared and dumbfounded, while Odile still has her strict demeanor, but her brows are furrowed while asking;

‘how?’ in a bit of a panicked voice. The King wraps up the answer to your question .

“After I fully accepted the power at my disposal... I found myself like this. Towering over everyone.” Then a small pause. “But I do not mind.  I can see very far, in this body. I can even see…” he cuts himself off at the last part.

Okay, time for the more important question.

“Have you seen any weird creatures in the House?”

There is a moment of silence.

“I don’t know anything that happens outside of this room.. I can’t really leave it after all…” after he says that he gestures to his tall structure.

Well- you never really thought of it before! But it makes sense. Seems like asking was pointless.

But that also begs the question; How did he enter the House? You know for a fact he cannot fit through any of the doors besides the big one up front, you know the house is a bit distorted from its original glory- you’ll have to ask Mirabelle what the House was like before the king entered.

But you’ll save that question for a future snack break, not at Dormont- best to do it at that moment. 

Exchanging blows with the king, you realize just how much easier this fight is compared to the first time you fought him. It used to be a few hours of fighting him, but now you can do it in less than one. He’s basically just another sadness, just a small obstacle in your path-

Maybe if you tried you can take him on all by yourself.

After all, you're basically the one doing all the big damage- just grab a few tonics and this should be easy. 

He starts crying- you hear everyone’s lines, this is mostly bonnie’s time to shine in this play of yours with their speech. The Kid puts forward a lot of emotion during this time- but then again, it may as well be too much emotion for them, after all they’re a kid. Kids have a hard time with some emotions at that age- but you don’t even remember how old they are.

You're a horrible party member. 

You take some time and let your Party take hits at the King instead, you need a bit of space- well a bit of time to think and clear your mind, or at least try.

From what you know, the third floor can get weird creatures, way stronger than any sadness that you can find here. Pearl may as well be as strong as you, but you’ll need to look into that a bit more. You also remember the looks Odile was giving when she was looking through her notebook. you’re already suspicious enough with how you act- and if something in that notebook is making it harder for you to fit into your role, you may need to remove it. As much as you might hate going through their stuff this is something you’ll need to check. And if worse comes to worse you’ll take the pages out.

You got caught in your head for too long and forgot to tell Mirabelle to activate the shield again- you quickly speed everyone up and get Odile to slow King down so you can throw a hard hit and have Mirabelle put up the shield. 

You didn’t even need Mira to put up the shield- Odile’s attack triggers Mirabelle’s scene. You don’t even feel like saying your line this time, but everyone follows as normal anyways- yelling ‘Disappear!’  one after another just like always. You hear Pearl make a little squeak along with all of them as well, finding a spare role to fit into. 

The shots are thrown, and King is gone, the lightless room goes back to being mostly darkless- hurting your eyes a bit by the sudden change.

Everyone comes around you while Bonnie and Pearl hop together in the background with smiles on their faces- Well, you can't really say the same for Pearl but they look happy nonetheless.

Odile starts her line “Mirabelle... That attack of yours…” and when it gets closer to the end you fail to remember to scream happily with them, but it seems like no one really noticed. So, you lead the way once more after Mirabelle runs off. 

Normal routine- block Odile from the view you get above the clouds, continue onwards and listen to everyone have some sort of conversation with the Head housemaiden. You can't be bothered to listen, and Pearl seems to get bored halfway through it, so you decide to hold them instead. 

You're the first one to sit down somewhere on the opposing bench where Mira normally sits down at. Setting Pearl next to you, the conversation everyone is having with Euphrasie finishes and Mira is talking to everyone this time instead of yourself. 

Pearl spits something out and holds it- you peek over and see, well a pearl! It looks ‘coloured’ as well. Which reminds you that you forgot to go through the books about ‘colour theory’.

They offer you the pearl. You look at it and see something inside, it looks like writing- not a language you're familiar with; that's for sure.

It's more like odd symbols. Maybe you can have Odile look at it, she might know something. But before that-

“Do you know what they say?” you look over at Pearl in hopes of an answer, but they just shrug and then lay down their head onto your lap, forcing you to stay in place. 

You and Pearl watch as Mira goes from Isabeau, to Odile then to Bonnie. You gave the pearl back to- Pearl who swallowed it again and you decide not to think too hard about how that works. 

Pearl climbs fully onto you making room for Mira to sit down. She takes a deep breath in… and then out… five seconds in between like what you do. “It's been such a long journey, you know?” she is looking away and fidgeting with her hands. “I was just thinking… You can be so nice, Siffrin.” Thankfully it seems to be her normal script, though she seems more calmed down- maybe thanks to Isabeau and Bonnie. The words fly over your head until you hear her last sentence. “Come see me at Dormont anytime! I'd love to hang out!” and then she proceeds to look at Pearl and squeeze their little chubby cheeks- “You should too! I would love to get to know you more!”

Pearl just lets out a little tired squeak, maybe because of the long day. 

She takes a bit more time putting a lot of attention onto Pearl with petting and squeezing them, calming her down more and also seemingly giving herself some reassurance. They squirm a bit, looking slightly uncomfortable. Then leaving and sitting down at her normal spot on the other bench.

Pearl gets off your lap so you can also talk to everyone. But decide to pull you towards Bonnie to talk to them first, and you comply- it doesn’t really matter the order of who you talk to anyways, normally you go to Odile first, Mirabelle, Bonnie and then Isabeau. But who are you to complain? 

You head over and they decide to spare you a glance before talking. 

“So I can go back to Bambouche and see my sister again?” seems like it may as well be the same lines for everyone so you of course tell them they may as well punch you in the stomach 3 times if their sister isn’t fine, honestly- you rather they do it now. 

They look over at Pearl-

“Can I take Pearl with me?” This throws Pearl off guard for a bit, but this also begs the question.

“Does your sister even allow pets in the house?” they think about it for a second.

“Well- Nille can’t really be near pets because of allo-er-gees” they take a few tries at the word “Allergies.”

"Allergies." The voice is a bit away but you can tell it’s Odile correcting them. “Allergies! Something about their hair? Like I get that some people can't eat certain stuff! But I still don’t get why some people can’t be near animals!” seems like their sister is allergic to cats- can’t say you know the feeling. You refuse to be allergic to cats. You love them too much. 

Bonnie looks a bit disappointed at remembering that, but then quickly cheers up and says, “Well they better stay with you, so you don't get lonely!” Bonnie says, looking quite content and proud of themselves for whatever reason.

They go back to their spot on the railing, and you head over to Odile. You remember the first part.

‘...Ah. Woop woop…’ then she continues your thoughts.

“...We did it, we won, etc.” you zone out a bit until you hear a word that's out of place-

“...Take care of yourself, Siffrin, alright? And- try to talk to someone, please.” you try to keep a relaxed expression as she continues. “you’ve been acting a bit off today and part of yesterday, I know we’re about to go our separate ways.” She pauses a bit after speaking, and Pearl has climbed down and started to hold onto your leg like a child. Odile sees them and stops.

“Never mind that- just take care of yourself, alright Siffrin?” In return, you give her your most reassuring nod you can manage at the moment. 

After that Pearl just decides to stay near Odile as you start making your way over to Isa, who knows? Maybe he will say it this time… but at this rate you doubt it.  

“Sif, We did it!” that gives you the cue to zone out until the point where he tries to confess. You hear a slight pause as he stops himself, “Sif? ...Is everything okay?”

Oh 

STARS

you hate this line.

a reminder of how disgusting you are.

But you deserve it; don't you? Disgusting.

. . .

This makes you give out a weak, short, wheezy laugh.

“Yeah! Why do you ask?” You say, a smile on your face.

He pauses for a bit, looking right at you.

“You’ve been acting strange for a while now- do you want to talk about it?”

He does the same hand gesture he always does at the tree, raising it then putting it back to his side. Ugh.

“Well, if you don’t feel like talking right now, let us talk after dinner, okay? You know- when everyone has winded down;” With that you give a nod, a bit frustrated he still doesn’t say it- but you really don't deserve to hear those words anyway. 

You turn around and you see Odile talking to Pearl with some Yes or No questions, along with writing notes inside her journal. She has flipped to the pages of the odd creatures, asking if Pearl recognizes them. Pearl answers truthfully by nodding yes. You're scared that if it goes on any longer Odile is going to piece together something, so you make your way to The Head Housemaiden.

“-Traveling one!” you hear the line, your mind goes blank- you really don’t want to hear this again, but you can in fact replay it inside your head over and over, in perfect sync with her. Stars, you hate this. 

The burnt sugar hits you, making you gag- she’s about halfway now. “I'm sorry! You'll be going back!” you look around, no one has noticed but Pearl- they’re looking at you weirdly, they seem concerned. As the Head Housemaiden goes through her lines, you can't bring yourself to look at you Party members,

Pearl joins you and they probably smell the burnt sugar- they frantically tug on your cloak, confused and panicked, until everything goes dark. 

Chapter Text

You awake on the field, you dash and lay on top of the big slugcat before they wake up. You want to get answers out of them, like why you're back at the start- did they unlock a Passage? So many questions are going through your head in only so many seconds! 

 They start to wake up from their hibernation, so you jump on their chest a bit to give them that final push to consciousness.

“What was that for?” they sound tired and annoyed, but you couldn’t care less- you need answers! 

 You hop off and start tugging on them the hardest you can, not giving them a moment to figure out what's going on. They sit up and look at you-

“let's go over to loop now..” the Siffrin sounds tired, their voice slurring a little. (or you assume that's what they are, but that would mean the rest are also Siffrins- but from what you can tell, they’re all different. Maybe they have their own titles? Like iterators?) And the Loop is unlike anything you’ve seen! Well, they seem like a star- but they’re not green but instead a very light blue. And mind you- they have a body too! Which is also- well, just a very dark blue. 

 You and the Siffrin walk out of the field until you run into Mirabelle- or Mira, you’re not too sure what you’re supposed to call them. But you trail behind so she doesn’t see you, and why is she heading this way again? It’s a new cycle, how is she back as well? Is it the same for everyone else? Questions...

 Once she walks away you climb into the thing on top of the Siffrin’s head- it reminds you of masks but it goes on top of the creature! It also reminds you of a white squidcada, well besides the fact that it bends at the middle point. You’re pretty sure that sort of accessory has a name- but you can’t put your finger on it.

And it’s cozy! Quite warm if you may add.

 You feel Siffrin moving until you're at Isa (or Isabeau; you really don’t know, but Siffrin calls him Isa so you might as well too) you can also tell it’s him because of his horrifically tall height and red hair. 

 You hear them talk but you're not willing to listen at the moment, you’re still figuring out what region this is- or if it’s even in your world. You see these statues that remind you of Iterators but it may not even be an Iterator! Now that you're thinking about it- are all these creatures Iterators? They have similar structure builds compared to Looks to the Moon and Five Pebbles- they have many different designs, they’re all different after all! And maybe what they call each other are their names! Everything is now clicking together for you! 

You're so smart. So clever. Totally.

 Maybe they’re just more advanced and compressed down into reasonably sized vessels, some are bigger or smaller than others- kinda like how Five Pebbles is smaller than Looks to the Moon! You know that because you can see the length of her legs- but Five Pebbles’s legs are covered by their garments- which mind you, the length doesn’t add up to Looks to the Moon, but hey! You might be overthinking this, just only a little bit! 

 But of course you know the Siffrin is just some big Slugcat-after all they understand you more than the others. Or maybe you just like them more. 

 But Bonnie is also pretty cool, after all they make awesome food. Maybe some of the best food they gave you was that bright yellow circle fruit, it was juicy, sweet and had just the right type of texture.

Siffrin should try it sometime!

 You move around and Siffrin’s thing falls off their head- you still don’t know what it’s called. So you hop down to go grab it for them. When heading back you lock eyes with Isa, he just looks at you while you slowly head back to Siffrin- and then you quickly climb up Siffrin, putting the thing back on their head and then hide underneath it. You cannot lie, it was awkward- but thankfully he shrugs it off.

 He might talk to Siffrin about it later though. But you both will worry about that when the time comes.

 Once he’s gone Siffrin goes over to the tree where Loop is.

“Heya, stardust! How can I help you on this wonderful new loop?” they giggle lightly, but Siffrin takes a second to reply, thinking.

“Do you think Pearl can hang around you in this loop?” this throws Loop off for a bit, they take some time to think.

“Hmmmmm, well why do you ask?” in which Siffrin replies.

“Well, they seem curious about you.” In which you are! You wonder why they aren’t green!

“Well, can’t argue with that logic, I am quite the sight I may say~” they look at Siffrin and squint their eyes.

“Aw don’t think that way about me Stardust~! We both know i'm quite ‘Stellar.'”

 Siffrin pulls you out and offers you over to Loop, in which they just pat the area besides them which you hop over too.

“Do you need anything else?” They ask, and Loop and it seems like they’re mentally scrolling through questions but then shake their head no.

“Okay then see you later Stardust! I’ll keep watch on the Slugcat so don't worry!” 

 Once Siffrin walks away Loop looks at you, curiously.

“So, it’s just us two now?” you try to get onto their lap but they scoot away.

Okay.

You glare at them, squinting your eyes.

First off, that's not allowed. you’re gonna get on them one way or another. You jump onto their lap and then they stiffen up. Surprisingly, they’re warm for an Iterator- well they are also a star so you guess it makes sense. Does that make them an iterator? Can stars be iterators? Can iterators be stars? So many questions...

 After a while they finally relax and sigh under their breath. “This is going to be a long loop- isn’t it?”

Chapter Text

 Loop and you just end up sitting in silence for a while. And eventually it goes dark, but alas- Loop glows! Oh, if only you could as well- it would’ve been so helpful. Shaded citadel, ugh. Just thinking about it makes you shiver.

     You know you’re not under a structure because it is going dark without the loud rumbling of rain. You could be on top of an old Iterator- or maybe on the ground! After all, there are so many colourful plants here! And not the carnivorous kind! Well, besides the Worm grass in that structure- and the Pole plant. Who knows! Maybe you’ll find the red variant of Worm grass! 

You look up at Loop, they’re still awake, maybe they don’t need sleep? Well, if that’s the case you’ll try to stay awake with them! Well, you only ever make good decisions! 

And then after a while you wake up on their lap- well, you definitely failed at staying awake. After all, how can you stay awake while they’re rubbing your head.

Wait, they’re touching you- it feels nice.

Their hands are warm, so you remain a bit sleepy- until you realize they’re talking.

“Do you know why you’re here Pearlie?” well- you didn’t hear the first part, but you shrug. You're not too sure why you're here- or how in that matter. Wait- did they call you Pearlie? Siffrin called you Pearl, you found out that's what they decided your name was- is this some nickname? Like how you call Looks to the Moon-Moon?

 Well- a lot of things are happening right now, you’re just glad you don’t have to deal with too many surprises. You’re also able to have your guard down here! The constant affection you're able to receive right now reminds you of when you were with your family… Now you're sad- great. 

 You curl into yourself, not wanting Loop to see your face. You have to admit, it's become a bit of a habit. You used to only do it when you were upset at your siblings and needed some time to yourself. 

 Loop lifts you up, and you squeak. They ask a question to you with a bit of hesitation in their voice.

“Shall we head over to the Clocktower?” that's the place you and Siffrin spent the cycle at- right? Well, if that's the case- you would like to go there! So, you nod your head rapidly until you feel like you might get a headache. 

 They end up carrying you under their arm, restraining you from moving on your own. And instead of following the path, Loop stays in the trees next to it, they’re a bit hesitant for some reason but they push through like they’ve done this before. Maybe they don’t get along with all the Iterators here, you get it- you're not a fan of Five Pebbles or the Shaded Citadel. Well, they seem to like slugcats! Like you and Siffrin! Or well, at least tolerate you. Maybe they’re a slugcat? Wait no- they’re a star! 

 Once they jump over the river, remaining in the trees- you see the other slugcat! And they’re still with all the Iterators! Like Bonnie, you like the Bonnie Iterator- after all, they’re almost your size! 

 You want to say bye to Siffrin before they go to another area or region. So, you squirm your way out of Loop’s arms despite their desperate requests for you to stay put. Once you hop out, Loop goes quietly goes deeper into the forest.

 You leap onto Siffrin, tackling them onto the ground.

“What was that for...?” they groan. Isabeau picks you up- which you are not okay with! He’s too tall and scary! You squirm and thrash a lot, trying to get out.

“Hey Sif? Do you know what this is? I saw it with you the other day, and when it wasn’t with you when we made it to the clock tower I was convinced that I was hallucinating-” he sounds a bit worried, and you give up your attempts to get out of his arms, sighing in defeat, half-way slumped over the outside of them.

 Siffrin gets back up- “Yeah, I do know them.”

The response makes Isabeau hold you up to get a better look at you, being held this way reminds you of a vulture diving down and just grabbing you from the ground without giving you any time to think.

You glare at him the best you can.

“They’re very soft-” Isa gets cut off by Bonnie “Really? Can I hold them?” you see their sparkling eyes, and you would rather be held by them than the tall one. As soon as Isa lightens his grip, you jump into Bonnie's arms for a second. 

Thankfully you can easily avoid their grasp, so you're able to escape after a few seconds and run back into the trees. You hear Odile behind you.

“Well, let's get going- we’ll talk about this after we’re in the House.” Siffrin waves goodbye to you and you also wave them away, quickly.

 Loop grabs you quickly.

"To the Stars above don’t do that EVER again- I can’t have them looking at me.”

They hold you more tightly this time until you're in the Clock tower. Once you two are in, they sit down- holding you tightly. But you want to walk around this area! You’ve only been in so many parts of it!

“Calm down would you, Pearlie? We have all the time we want this loop.” this makes you pause- the said loop, but not for their name. Maybe it’s another word for cycle? 

 You don’t think you have the whole picture-but maybe if you try hard enough you can get the answers you need out of Loop! You just need something to draw on… you pat their hands to signal you want out, in which they comply this time.

“Fine- you can go, just stay in my sight.” works for you! 

 You walk around until you find some things to open- it's a big door- not the same one you used to enter this area, but you want to know what's behind it! You scale the structure and manage to open it. There are a lot of things in it- you spot a brick thing of white- so you try to grab it, but it falls on you in very thin portions. You flap it around- bendy! You also get your hands on some yellow stick things, and the tip of them are grey.

You take your findings over to Loop.

“Congratulations. You made a big mess.” They sound annoyed. But they take one of the sheet things you brought over, fold it into a square then into some sort of bird?

“I wonder why I even bother coming over here, I know it’s pointless.” They sigh. “I know I don’t belong here anymore- but a part of me just can’t leave this star's forsaken place behind…” you’ve dropped the things you were holding and you're now being held by Loop- but they seem to need it, but you don’t mind. 

After a while they loosen their grip on you and let you go. You grab the thin sheets and the little colored stick. Well, it seems like you can draw with these! You try your best to doodle a picture of Loop; they said the word earlier as well- you hope they understand what you mean. You hand them the picture.

“Is this… me? No that's stupid, of course it is.” 

After a while of looking at the picture they seem to finally understand what you’re trying to say.

“Well, I suppose your situation is different than ours- you seem so casual with death, but you seemed so confused when you were back in the field.” They clap their hands together. “well then! Listen carefully, I’ll explain what's going on~ but I'm not going to repeat it twice, so listen carefully Pearlie!” Your ears perk up. carefully paying attention to what loop is saying. “We’re stuck in a Time Loop! Which means that every time that Siffrin dies- you'll loop back in time! Like back to a Snack room for example- or back in that BLINDING field as you’ve experienced!” 

They sound too cheery as always- it makes you a bit uncomfortable. But.. A Time. .loop? Yeah, your life is something like that- not really but you can kind of relate. But suddenly some things make a bit more sense. 

Chapter Text

 “Pearlie- to the stars above get in the stupid bath!”

You’ve been hanging out with Pearlie this loop, hanging their drawing of you on the fridge- and now, you're trying to give them a bath. Thank the stars for crafted plumbing, but the moment you turned the nozzle they tried to book it out of the room. To add to that they’re making panicked squeaking sounds- something like a kitten and a chirp from a small type of bird.

 Now you're in a position you never thought you’d be in, holding a cat with your dear life while making sure the water isn’t too deep for the creature. “It’s fine Pearlie! It’s just water! For the blinding life of me, hold still!” 

Okay, the water is now at a good height and you're able to stop it, which calms Pearl down- but it’s the kind of calm down where they might be feeling like they’re turning into pudding. You’ve felt that way before a few times- you can’t recall when though. 

They have no issue going into the water itself, so at least you don't need to worry about restraining them. The only reason why you’re giving them a bath in the first place is because you don’t even think they groom themselves- they’re a cat for stars sake! But alas, they lack any sense of hygiene.

Sure they don't smell bad- if anything they smell like blood, and grass. Well, you’ve certainly smelled worse! After all, when a Sadness is killed- well ‘put down until moment’s notice’ they have an odd scent to them, at this rate you know it like the back of your hand- poor you. A sadness smells like molten metal and swampy water- you understand the odd watery scent part, but they have no reason to smell like burning metal. 

After giving Pearlie a good wash, you pull them out to dry them- and would you look at that! They seem more fluffy, Pearl also seems to enjoy feeling clean- as a cat should.

Well, that was a good way to pass the time- looking at the sun it’s now about mid-day, which means Siffrin should be on the second floor about now. Hopefully they get to the Observatory this loop, after all- that's the room with one of the books about colours.

You go back to the couch and Pearlie wanders around for a bit, but they remain in your sight as you told them. You have to admit you like this- you're not alone and you’re able to get some peace in mind. That’s something you didn’t have the luxury of for a long time- it might’ve been years for all you know. 

The moment you take your eyes off them you hear a crash in the kitchen, so you quickly make your way over there only to see some utensils on the floor and Pearl’s face stuck in a jar, they look like a tube- and you have to admit it’s quite funny, like a tabby cat!

They are smart in some areas- but in others, not so much.

Well, you are cat-sitting them for the loop- so sadly enough you have to do manual work instead of staying on the couch or wandering the Clocktower. 

They seem pretty stuck- you're pretty sure some sort of soap is normally used for this type of thing, but you're having a hard time reading- how long has it been? You at least know your native language but you can't piece together blinding anything with Vaugaurdian anymore. Maybe just some water would work? You don’t want to break the jar even though it would reset in the next loop- and it can hurt Pearlie.

The moment you turn on the faucet Pearl scarts going into full blown panic mode, flailing around until they wack their head against the hard counter and break the jar. Then they run under the couch, leaving a small trail of jam behind. Yeah, that's not normal- you understand if they have something with water, they seem to be fine with still water- not so much rushing water. From what you can tell it triggers their fight or flight response. 

But you also just got them cleaned- all that effort for a split second to feel their soft fur… wasted as they are now covered in jam. Thankfully Pearlie didn’t get cut from what you can tell. But you do need to clean them now- maybe a damp cloth will do.

You try to grab them from under the couch, but they seem to have somehow fallen asleep already.

That makes your job easier, at least.

You pull them back onto the hardwood floor and run a cloth under some warm water quietly, not wanting to disturb them. At this rate you may as well just ask Pearlie to hang out with you for more loops- it’s a nice change of pace, you're not sitting under the favor tree and pouting. It’s also just nice in general- taking care of a small animal. the things don’t need much, you don’t recall ever having a pet before- but you’ve seen people with cats and dogs, you see the appeal. 

You wake them up a bit before whipping the jam off their head. They’re too drowsy to get away, so you don’t have to hold them in place roughly. 
Now thinking about it, no one really has pets in dormont- besides the frozen dogs in the House, the only animals you see in town are the sheep and birds. But there are a lot of kids- pretty sure those cost more and are higher maintenance. Not really The Kid though- they try to care for themselves and for the others, but then again, they are almost a teenager from what you can recall. 

Well, you will never say this out loud to anyone- but this is nice. 

Chapter Text

You managed your way to the 3rd floor of the House, running into the same pack of creatures over and over again- things with masks covering their faces and they all vary in shades. They were on the first floor but you have no clue how they are up here without going the same way as you. The things have mostly just thrown rocks at you and threaten you with the spears they’re holding. Or well- at least you think they were trying to scare you off, but as animals are- they do not like things bigger than them, and for once you are taller and most likely stronger than these things. 

But for now they are blocking your path to the observatory. Which you kinda need to get to? You managed to remember to look through the book about colour in the secret library- from what you know you're not supposed to see them, especially with that big lizard and the pearl that Pearl swallowed.

From what you can tell the scavengers look like they have a colour with them as well- it looks like a rock, but the colour on it is pulsing like it could go off at any given moment. And it’s the same colour as the big lizard- you're not sure if you want to mess with it. 

You also found the book on craftonomy and discussed some stuff about Timecraft with your party. From what you know you are NOT supposed to be alive at all, when you died from the boulder the first time and got thrown back in time you should’ve been double dead- if that could even happen. 

Odile closes her book after taking some notes and  looking through it a bit.

“At this rate I’m ready to use brute force to continue.” Odile sounds a bit impatient- “We know these… things aren’t sadnesses, but if I’m being honest I have never seen anything like them.”

-And neither have you! Well, besides the other encounters in the house- the first time they ran into you they seemed just as confused as you were and skittered off as fast as they could in an orderly fashion. 

On the second floor they tried to sneak up on Odile to take her glasses, and once discovered they hit YOU with a rock and ran away. You got a nasty bruise on your leg, since then Odile and Isabeau have been more tense. Mirabelle got more anxious, bonnie got more confused.

“Should we take a vote on this? I'm tired of dealing with them.” You're just about ready to tear into those things if no one restrains you. Isabeau and Mirabelle look at eachother, they seem to be a bit against it.

“Maybe we should wait a bit longer? They seem… very skittish-” Appears to be that Mira is willing to wait.

“Seems like the Beauty alliance comes together again~!” Isabeau sides with Mira, you and Odile could have a weird name, but you both don’t really feel like it.

“Odile, Siffrin- what’s your alliance name? You gotta have one!” Bonnie chimes in with that statement, but if you're being honest you're a bit too tired for this. 

You and Odile look at eachother, you don’t know what face you're making, but from her reaction you might look like you're ready to just kill the creatures- or you look as tired as a dead man walking. Maybe both!

Personally you feel like trash. 

“Well I guess I'm making the name..” Odile sighs and pinches the bridge of her glasses. Well, you know she has like two choices for this that fit you two the most, you and Odile are the oldest people here and are the only people from overseas. “Just give me a moment to think- unless you have a good name Boniface?” 

Bonnie doesn’t even think through their response properly.

“Old coots!”

Odile and you flinch a bit. that hit you right in the heart- your pride has just taken a massive hit, you know you're somewhere in your late 20’s but boy did that hurt. You're not even that old! Come on! 

“How bout’ we just vote..?” you say in a bit of a raspy voice, it’s gonna take you a loop or two to recover from that. And for all you know- depending how long you're stuck in these loops, you could technically end up older than Odile, the thought shakes you. 

But your body gets reset every time you loop, so you're choosing to stay young. Take that, time craft!

“Well, I don’t really want to fight them so-”

Before Bonnie can finish speaking, the scavenger? Throws a weird-shade pulsing rock at a recently-revealed noodlefly.

It doesn't even hit. But it does kill half of the creatures there.

The others continue to throw rocks at the noodle-fly until what you can assume to be the mother-fly comes over. You motion for everyone to step back because you do NOT want to deal with that thing.

Odile rapidly goes through her notebook flipping to the page you assume is the one with the information to the Noodle-fly from a previous loop.

You really need to remove those pages- because for all you know she might have some stuff written down about you and how you’ve been acting recently. 

You watch the creatures trying to attack the Mother-fly and you watch one of them get skewered, after once they’re down to the last two they finally retreat into the hallway past the observatory.

Well- that allows you to move on.

“Let's get going then, we can’t wait all day.” 

“Shouldn’t we take some time to process what just happened?” Mirabelle looks a bit overstimulated at the moment, you also see some of the creature’s blood on her. May as well give her a bit of time to clean up, along with Isabeau. 

Once they’ve cleaned up a bit you head down to the row of tears before the observatory and use the crest on it, clearing the way forward. 

No matter how many times you enter this room, you feel a bit nostalgic looking around it, sure it doesn’t have the big telescope, but you can pretend this is the real thing anyway.

Chapter Text

You look around the observatory as your team goes through their small chats. Mirabelle talks about how someone used to study something here, from what you can recall the study is called astrology or maybe they were an astrophysicist- but seeing the room, it seems like astrology. It’s funny how you know all of this stuff now, sure you couldn’t really tell the difference between the two professions right now because of your blinding memory, but you’re at least glad you know the names. 

Now- you recall seeing a book about colours in here, it’s on the table… right? You look at the one on the table and see the Ka Buan language- yep this seems to be it. You would be reading it if you were better at the language, but it was and still kind of hard for you to understand.

 You look over at Odile and then she looks at you “Siffrin, we do not have time for this-” you see one of those little marble things next to the book- well, a pearl it’s also an odd shade and Odile looks at you a bit dumbfounded. Well, that is convenient. You smirk at her and get out of the way so she can reach the book. 

“Well, this book seems to go into detail about what could've caused colors to disappear… but that pearl, that’s a colour isn’t it?” you hand it over to her, the pearl is what you can tell a darker colour than the one Pearl found. You’re not sure how to describe it. “Well, this doesn’t make sense to me by any means. People have been known to see a "weird shade" during times of immense trouble.”

 She shows the pearl to the rest of the party “this seems pretty harmless though, but at least we know what a colour looks like somehow.” you recall the colour those creatures had on what you can say was a bomb. “Well- that pack of creatures we ran into had a colour with them, the thing that exploded- the bomb.” 

“Yeah- they uhh, well they threw it and it killed half of them.” Isabeau joins in the conversation now “whatever that weird worm-fly looking thing was really spooked them for some reason.” 

“But they also paid no mind to their comrades dying…” Odile is thinking really hard right now, trying to make sense of the situation you guys are in. “almost as if it was expected or casualty that they pay no mind to.” 

That reminds you- when Pearl died, they just brushed it off, of course that was when they were killed by something. The moment you turned your dagger on yourself they started freaking out and it seemed like killing yourself is a foreign concept to them. You wonder how they might act if you poke yourself with the glass shard, you’ve already poked yourself in this loop so you don’t have it right now, but next loop when Pearl comes into the building you should see their reaction. 

“Maybe it could be something neurological? Kind of like how snacks don’t experience happiness and a few other emotions, maybe these things don’t know how to process grief?” Isabeau seems to be thinking really hard “they could just be lacking those emotions all together, but we don’t know enough to say for sure…” 

“OH! I’ve heard about the snake thing! But what does nauro-losical mean?” Bonnie chimes into the conversation “related to or affecting the nervous system, it’s a word used is neurology, which is the study of the brain.” 

Yeah- or they have the same thing as Pearl- desensitized with death if it’s through normal means. Maybe it’s something that they get used to over time? You’re not really affected by the concept anymore as well (if the only person dying is you, but you're starting to not be affected by your family dying anymore). 

“Siffrin, can you hold onto the pearl? After all, you do have all of those pockets” she hands the Pearl over to you which you place in one of your many pockets inside your cloak- an  empty pocket, you’re sure it won't do anything but it’s best to air on the side of caution. 

Well, now that you have that taken care of, might as well look at the stars before you decide to loop back. 

They’re so pretty, it’s around the transition from summer to fall so you can see the patterns for that season, you can’t name any of them though. But personally, you like the winter sky more! But that’s just your personal preference, it’s not like your family will know the difference, you’re surprised you even know! 

“Those are... Stars, right? I remembered just now.” right on cue Bonnie- but you don’t listen, all you care about right now is watching the stars "Can we look at the stars for a second?" After the next few lines you all sit down in front of the window, you’re able to trace some constellations with your finger, but you don’t know their names or what they represent.

 “Whatcha' doing there buddy?” Isabeau is sitting next to you a bit curious and confused, you don’t want to explain it, but you have to. “Tracing constellations, the fall sky is out right now and I'm just familiarizing myself with them again.” 

You see his look only gets more confused “ah don’t worry about it, it doesn’t matter.” you get up and start walking away “well, let’s get going. We have a house to explore after all, don’t we?” and you plunge your hand into a tear.

Chapter Text

 You don’t know how much time has passed- but you're now in the snack room before the King. This has happened a few times before, you go a few loops without a direction- and then gain consciousness in a random area- sometimes back in Dormont or on a random floor. 

 Pearl isn’t with you so it couldn’t have been more than 2 maybe 3 loops, and you’re sure you would’ve remembered them if you ran into any creatures. Did you somehow die to the King again? Your body feels like it’s about to collapse on itself, so it must’ve been King. 

 You eat the malanga fritters that rest in your hands… you taste nothing but ash now. You barely remember how these even taste now- how anything tastes. Sweet? No that's not right, savory- but you normally had yours with some spice. 

 Once you finish your fitters, you brush off your hands on your pants and stand up with everyone. “Ready to go?” you wait until everyone nods or gives a thumbs-up. 

 You walk through the hallway to the king, seeing his hair everywhere as well. Considering that he just ended up the way he is, you wonder how the hair managed to get through the brick walls like some invasive plant… or a weed, may as well be both. 

 You’re pretty sure he ended up that size when he made it into that room. After all, in this loop, you ended up spotting the picture of him that was on the ground in the Mirror room. Tall, but his boots had some thin heels but his hair still managed to touch the ground- but tall anyway, but taller than Euphrasie that’s for sure. So his hair might as well have grown after that, how else would it be in the walls. Nonetheless it’s gross, you know your hair isn’t that well kept- but this is a whole new level.  

 So he is stuck in that room, too big to leave and all that hair would make it impossible unless he was able to remove it from the walls by using himself as a sledgehammer. 

“Siffrin? Are you there? Vauguard to Siffrin?” oh- the Housemaiden, no- her name is Mirabelle you dummy. It seems like she is currently trying to get your attention. You’re sure you were not spacing for a long- were you? Wait- that’s not the saying 

“Mira, I'm pretty sure you use the word Earth instead?” you get several confused looks at your direction. “Is it..? What is that though?” she looks a bit worried like she thinks this is something she is supposed to know.

“It’s the name of our planet- it's called Earth?” This is basic knowledge! Doesn’t everyone learn this at some point in their childhood? Like school! But- you only get more confused looks, you need to drop this topic before they try and push you further.  

"Haha, funny joke!” you’re now sweating bullets “sure Siffrin… you said that last time after you said a confusing word while looking at the Circle Key, it was Universe- wasn’t it?” Isabeau doesn’t seem to believe you and- wait he remembered that word! Most people… don’t. 

“Maybe we should talk about this- after the King, you know or at dinner?” you’re about ready to take your frustration out on King (once you ask another question or two). No one knows this stuff, and for all you know, they never will- it doesn’t matter if you explain it thousands of times the knowledge will just escape them. 

“Okay- we can, after the King. This stuff seems really important to you- like… The stars, you talk about them quite a bit like you know something we don’t. Also I just want to make sure that if you need us to listen for a bit or if you need someone to help you.” Isabeau raises his hand close to your shoulder, but then brings it back to his side. You don’t know how much longer you can handle him doing that. Isn’t touch a way to comfort someone? To help them feel real? 

You wish they would at least touch you a bit, but that’s greedy, selfish even. Maybe not wish, but hope at least. “Yeah- lets just go.” you don’t want to deal with this, they don’t need to help some greedy person like you (can you even call yourself a person anymore?)

You enter into the room, seeing the King’s imposing form. You approach him and his lines remain the same. He’s a reliable actor- only stepping out of line when you do and when needed, but the Head Housemaiden takes the cake- always having the same line no matter what happens. 

You survive the first attack from King with Mira’s shield as always, well- unless you forget. But you didn’t forget this time! So you remain here in the land of the living. And you continue throwing blows at the king until he lets out the frozen tears and then you get rid of the things.

Well time for the question you may as well ask every time; “Have you seen any weird creatures in the House?” they might appear in his room or wander into it, so it’s best to check. 

“I don’t-” he’s just repeating lines, so you don’t have to worry about it- now, this loop you looked at the newspaper and pointed out the stars on his armor, you’re have a bit of an idea on what you don’t remember, maybe if he does it’ll bring back some old memories. 

"What should I remember?"  the words escape your mouth before your turn comes back around. He asks that every time you face him, you have a bit of an idea on what you’re missing- but maybe he’ll just tell you.

 Everything seems to go quiet until Odile speaks up “Does it really matter, Siffrin? He could just be trying to confuse you.”

 Bonnie’s loud voice is heard behind you “Yeah! Speaking in riddles to Frin! Stop trying to confuse them, They haven't forgotten anything!” 

 But you know that you’re missing something! Something important, why else would he ask every blinding time? “What have I forgotten, King?” 

 “Havent you always known? At this point can’t you tell what we’ve forgotten, ALL OF IT!?” his voice raises as he gets more aggravated. 

 “Out of everyone standing here in this room- we should know! If you could remember-” he stops himself mid sentence. 

you KNOW what you’ve forgotten haven’t you? Would it kill you to try and remember it? It matters doesn’t it? it’s important- you should look around the house a bit more, it wouldn’t hurt to check everything once again. 

“Siffrin- do you know what he’s talking about?” Odile is next to you, she holds a concerned but confused look on her face. “Because it seems like you do.” 

You open your mouth to speak, but no words come out. So you just look away and continue attacking King until he waits again to ready the move he uses at the start. You see Mira already readying the shield for everyone and you give her a thumbs-up which seems to give her a bit of a confidence boost- Universe knows she needs it. 

Before the King can even let out the attack- he seems damaged enough for Mirabelle to deal the last blow. You listen as everyone repeats the normal victory lines- something that never changes no matter how weird you may act or how quickly you kill King. It feels nice, knowing everyone is happy. 

Mira runs off to the Head Housemaiden and you slowly follow her, you don’t want to run currently- walking gives you more time to think. 

Should you be worrying about Pearl and Loop now? You can’t call Loop because you're too far away or something- but they shouldn’t be at each other's throats. Pearl seems a bit too… how do you word this- like they may fight, but only when compelled to do so for their survival, well that’s what you’ve gathered anyway. 

Maybe Loop found out more things about Pearl? You don’t really have free time in the loops besides the start- but even then it’s not a lot, you kind of need to use that time to talk to everyone and meet up with Loop. 

You hit your foot on the first stair, not realizing how far you made it into the room- you take a second to recover and then push forward- it still kind of hurts, but you’ve felt worse! 

As you enter the room, you see Euphrasie and Mira talking to one another- she seems happy, but you’re having a hard time to even see any of that as normal anymore. 

You wait until it’s over- lets just hope you can avoid the talk with Isabeau.

Chapter Text

“So- about the stars and whatnot, you want to talk about them?” you and Isabeau are now sitting on the bench that was next to him. 

You don’t really want to talk. For all you know- once you start talking about the stars and whatnot, you’ll forget it all and they will as well. The knowledge will be lost to time. But Isabeau does seem genuinely interested in the topic. 

“Should I just start with the basics? A lot of people don’t really know about this stuff so it can get a bit confusing…” you await his answer, you really don’t want to get him confused or lost while you're talking. For all you know you might start rambling for hours, and from what you also know you can only really do that when drunk. You’re just not one to really talk for extended periods of time. 

“So the word Planet- it’s basically the same word as world? So this world that we’re in is also called a planet because it circles around the sun.” you look over at him, a bit worried, for all you know you just added a few hundred questions into his mind. Oh this would be so much easier if you had some paper or an Orrery- does the observatory have one? Wait no it doesn’t you’ve been in that room too many times to know that it doesn’t have one. 

“There are several other planets that also go around the sun with us- all made of different sizes and materials, I'm pretty sure the ones further from the sun are called ‘Gas Giants’ because they have no real solid form and are made purely out of hydrogen and helium.” you think you know the names of the planets- but you would need something to help remind you. 

“Uhh, does that make sense?” you look over at Isabeau who seems to be following your words just fine. 

“The sun is what we would call a star- just like all those other little dots in the sky, and it’s huge in comparison to us.” you’re holding all this information with a death-clutch to your heart, scared that it might leave you any moment- but what you’re talking about is the round about basics so you shouldn’t go in depth. 

“I mean this world, or planet- it’s pretty big from what I know, like sometimes hearing you and Odile talk about your travels it makes Vauguard seem so small.” he seems genuinely interested! No- you forced him into this conversation all because you wanted to correct Mira, he shouldn’t have to listen to you talk about such a useless topic. No it’s not useless- it’s part of you, it’s basic information that just about everyone should know! But no one does- nevermind best not to think about that, you’re just having a conversation.

“From what I remember you could fit this planet into the sun a bit over a million times if it were hollow- if that helps you visualize things.” he takes his time to think and Odile comes over most likely after hearing the entire start of this conversation. 

“Maybe a better number would be a bit less than 700 kilometers for its radius? That is the measurement system you guys use if I remember correctly…” that makes it click for him from what you can tell by his baffled expression

“And the thing is so hot if you were next to it somehow you would be dead before you know it…?” just a little fun fact you remember, you remember one of your friends talking about it- they were a bit older than you and you liked the little bits of information they gave along with- 

You wonder where you learned this, maybe in school? Oh well, it doesn’t matter too much, you're just glad you can remember such things. Your mind feels a bit fuzzy now for some reason, you’re just a bit dazed so it’s nothing you can’t handle. 

“Siffrin, are you okay- you seem a bit… dazed.” you hear Odile’s voice, she’s standing next to the bench on your other side. After all, the bench only really fits two people. 

“Sorry- what were we talking about..?” you shared something about the sun, something about how hot it was? You know the round about number of the temperature for the surface and the core, but you're scared that if you say it out loud you’ll forget it- like how you forget everything. 

“Something about the sun, like how it is-” Isabeau winces a bit in pain and places his hand on his forehead like he has a headache. You smell a lot of burnt sugar around you as he tries to remember what you said. You need to close this conversation.

“We should stop talking about this stuff, I don’t want you guys to get hurt.” seeing them die from King is bad enough, but if they’re getting hurt because of you. You’re a monster, hurting the members in your party. You just need to talk to the Head Housemaiden to get this done and over with.

“Siffrin, sit back down- we need to talk about what just happened.” you sit back down like Odile asks, you see the pained expression she has from the pain you’ve caused her. 

“First off, what was that? The air became sickly sweet- you forgot what you were even talking about in the middle of whatever you were talking about, and now it hurts to recall what you said.” She makes some good points. You’re still able to remember what you said to an extent, but you feel like you’re missing something.

You should be honest with this- but you’re a bit scared of how they’ll react to the information. It feels like anything you say they’ll always forget, this whole thing feels pointless and a waste of your time. You could be back at Dormont and see how Pearl and Loop are doing, you could be trying to figure out how to escape this hell that you might as well deserve. 

“No one is supposed to know these things- at least that’s what I know.” you’re not even sure you’re meant to exist! You’ve technically died over a hundred times already! Your mind is collapsing in on itself as if it’s trying to erase everything you are! 

What if you died on this floor? You’re at the top after all, and the worst case scenario is that you may actually die! Would you end up back at Dormont or will you need to fight King again? 

What if you didn't talk to Euphrasie? Talking to her always restarts you back to Dormont, how far would you be able to go until you would loop back? Would you be able to see what Bonnie makes for dinner? You could use some sort of new food by now, would it even taste like anything? 

The sun behind you has gotten lower and you can see some of the stars from the opposing end of the light- surely you weren’t talking for long? 

“It’s getting late, can we maybe talk about this after dinner? When you guys no longer have a headache.” you see Isabeau nod and Odile- they seem to still have a minor headache, so it’s best to give them some time until they feel better. 

You see Mirabelle and Bonnie get up from their spots, everyone talks to each other for a bit until you see a group hug between them and Isabeau. You are left out as always- and Odile might as well kill them if they do bring her into the hug.

“I’m ready to go- it’s been a long day and I'm ready for dinner right about now…” you hear how tired Mirabelle sounds, you’re also ready to go back- to finally go back. You need to know how far you can push forward until you loop back. You know this won't end the loops, but maybe it’s just a gut feeling.

“The sooner we get back to the Clocktower the sooner I can make dinner!” Bonnie already starts their way out of the house, you and everyone else follows. 

While heading down the floors- you see just how much brighter the House is now that King is gone. The bricks aren’t a lightless shade, but something softer- not entirely darkless but closer to that bright shade. It hurts your eyes a bit, but nothing you can’t handle. 

It feels weird doing this-  you’ve never done this so you’re in uncharted territory until you loop back. So you need to watch every step and word you say. It’s no time to be reckless, this may as well be harder than fighting King. 

You step outside and you see just how bright it is now- your eyes hurt, so you have to squint. It’s sundown and you're this sensitive? What a pathetic thing you are. But it’s a good time to check in on Loop and Pearl now.

“I’ll meet you guys at the clocktower, I need to check something first.” you walk off and head over to the favor tree where you see a panicked Loop and confused Pearl. 

“Stardust, why haven’t you loop back yet?” they seem to be catching their breath as if they ran back here. 

“And I was almost caught by The Kid too! If you’re wondering why, just know I don’t spend every loop in the same Blinding spot!” yeah they are really angry- you should just explain what you’re doing right now.

“Loop- I'm just testing something out, I didn’t talk to the Head Housemaiden this loop and I want to see how far I can go- but I think we both know I am gonna loop back sooner or later.” you make sure they don’t interrupt you so they can understand your motives for what you're doing right now. 

They seem to have caught their breath and they are holding onto Pearl like a lifeline. “Well, I suppose I can’t blame you for getting curious or experimental. But if you ever do this again, PLEASE inform me.” 

“And they’re gonna find the broken jar- great.” okay, they’re not as mad now but only annoyed! And a broken jar? What were they doing there? 

Loops seems to be thinking even more while you try and piece together what exactly happened. That’s when you see the small jam stain on Pearl’s cheek- they must’ve been trying to get a snack or something. 

“Pearl get into the food?” 

“Yeah- and they also… drew a picture… of me…” Loop's speaking slows down, they seem to have come to a realization and they're terrified. 

“Stardust I need you to loop right now- I can’t have them seeing that picture of me.” They look at you with a look that can kill.

“But Loop- I’ve gotten this far, And this might be the only loop I can even do this I can’t go back now!” It's just a simple picture! Why are they so scared of such a small thing- why would it even matter if the party sees a drawing of them.

“It’s a big deal Stardust! And if you won’t loop back then I’ll make you-” they put Pearl down and then stand up, something they’ve never done in front of you- you can see they stand at a taller height than you- at least half foot taller than you. 

“You have two choices- either you loop back now or I’ll make you, but both have the same outcome either way.” you see them ready their craft, you see how it crackles and pops- it’s no ordinary craft that’s for sure. 

You look at Pearl who doesn’t seem to be affected by the chances of you fighting- but they’re looking at you like they’ve seen stuff like this thousands of times. You see them go into a low branch, just enough to hide their main body- but for them to also watch like they’re waiting for the perfect moment. 

Well- this is your only chance to see how far you can get in a loop, unless you’re able to reenact the exact scenario that you went through to get to this point you may never be able to do this again.  So you ready yourself into a fighting stance- ready to evade and attack. 

“It seems we’ll be fighting then! But I won't be holding back dear Stardust.”

Chapter Text

Wouldn’t Loop be worried that someone will see you two fighting? No- the party is too loud for anyone to hear you guys unless you make some really loud sounds. So you shouldn’t have to worry about bothering everyone, but you need to do this quickly because Bonnie might as well be making dinner now. 

“What If I just go to the Clocktower and pocket the drawing? Wouldn’t that make things easier for the both of us?” Loop throws an attack at you, their craft is unstable but strong. 

“Look, Stardust- I don’t want anyone to know that I exist besides you. Besides, how will you even explain the drawing? Blame it on the Slugcat?” Loop hisses at you while speaking, even talking they’re somehow faster than you.

You take a swing at them- but they move out of the way and force your dagger out of your hand. 

“I’ll be taking this, I don’t have a weapon and I want to play fair.” they play with the dagger in their hand for a bit, but they still hold onto it- you don’t think this was an even fight to begin with.

You step back, the best chance you might have is running- but Loop will catch up to you with the speed they have. Which way are you even facing right now? 

“Look Stardust, if you just loop back now the most you’ll have to do is either face the King or talk to that Head Housemaiden. Remember~ the worst case scenario is that you’ll just be dead permanently! And I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon." they pin you up against a tree with your dagger and their arm. “Besides, you could always act this out again- couldn’t you? You seem to like doing that.”

You see Pearl leap out of the tree and is now running away from the tree, they might be running to the clocktower and that might be even worse than the party seeing a picture of Loop. 

“Loop-”

“Stardust, I'm currently in the middle of trying to kill you- what could you even blinding want?” 

“I’m pretty sure Pearl has run away and is going to the clock tower right about now.” They're out of sight now, you hope they don’t get abducted by a random kid- but they’re slippery enough that you’re not going to worry about it.

“Yeah, right- they’re right in the tree…” there is a long pause as they look up into the Favor Tree

“You’ve got to be kidding me-” Loop lets you down, dropping you onto the ground. “Just go get the blinding Slugcat, now that you’re here they are no longer my responsibility.” 

Fair enough, but you would like your dagger back- it’s kind of important to you. Always good to have on when you’re talking to the Party and you end up horrifically messing up or when you need to fix something. 

“Stardust- no I'm gonna hold onto your dagger for now. We’re too far into this loop, may as well figure out where this does lead.” they stab your dagger deeper into the Favor Tree right next to the spot they sit at. 

“Just go catch them before I change my mind. But remember- if your Party goes out looking for me I may as well go looking for you and end this loop.” they sit down and stare you down until you leave. 

Going through the main part of Dormont is a bit of a pain for you- it’s way too loud, what were you expecting from a village celebration? Big celebrations like this don’t even give a second of silence. It's a bit too overwhelming for you to walk slowly. 

You make it over the broken bridge and head over to the clock tower, you enter and see Bonnie cooking, Isabeau and Mirabelle trying to corner Pearl and Odile watching Bonnie. 

“I’m back- what’s going on here?” you don’t see any drawing Loop was talking about, maybe they hid it and forgot where they placed it? Well if it’s hidden why were they so worried?

“The Slugcat from yesterday somehow broke in? I’m not sure how but we’re trying to pick them up” Mirabelle tries to reach her hand out to Pearl but Pearl hisses at them- that’s not at all normal. 

You head up to Pearl and see that they’re on a piece of paper, it’s folded up as well. You reach your hand out and Pearl allows you to pick them up, you make sure to grab what you think is the picture as well. 

“Oh- before I forget” you pocket the drawing and then pull out the oddly coloured pearl and well, give it to Pearl. “Found it while in the House, I suppose you like them and I don’t really have a use for them.” sure you like collecting small little trinkets and whatnot, but Pearl seems to like collecting pearls (maybe because of the way you named them? No that’s not it…) 

“Aw- I do want to pet them at least… They seem so fluffy.” Mira is right on that part, they seem cleaner than normal- not like you can relate, you’re pretty sure you haven’t taken a single shower the entire time you’ve been looping.

You bring Pearl over to Mira, they’re no longer hissing at any of them which is a good thing. “Pretty sure they’re fine now, you wanna hold them?”

Mira carefully picks up Pearl from your arms, being cautious but then relaxing once she holds them.

You walk away as Isabeau and Mira start talking, you’re honestly too tired to deal with most of this. Besides, you wanna know what Bonnie is cooking, it should be something new but you can smell anything besides the sickly sweet smell of sugar. 

“What are you making this time Bonnie?” you walk over to their side, they have to use a step stool in order to properly reach the counter and stove- of course this also gives them the extra height to look taller than you. 

“Curry- why are you asking?” they look at you and pause “you smell like- sugar? Like that sadness we ran into in the house!” you forgot about Bonnie’s sense of smell, better than any of the adults here. And do those sadnesses really smell like sugar?

“Do I really? I don’t use craft to change how I smell?” you’ve heard of people using that kind of craft in shampoo and perfumes, maybe that's why Mirabelle smells so nice- her roommate did in fact gifted her that perfume from what you remember. 

“Yes Siffrin you do, it’s a bit faint but even I can tell it’s there.” you jump at the sound of Odile’s voice, you forgot she was there. 

“Okay! We’ve now successfully detained the Slugcat!” Isabeau comes over holding Pearl like they’re a small child. Pretty sure the very small versions of children have a kind of name to define them, but you can't be bothered to remember.

“What do we do with them now- I mean, we can’t bring them outside, we saw them open the crabbing door!” Mirabelle seems to be pushing herself to say that, but you know how to keep the wretched thing from running off. 

You take off your hat and watch Pearl slip out of Isabeau’s arms and into your hat. Placing the hat down onto the couch you see Pearl seems to be more happy in your hat than out in the open from what you've been able to tell. 

You feel Odile looming above you. “Well, now that’s out of the way, after dinner we should have a talk Siffrin- I do think you owe us an explanation.”

Chapter Text

You’re all sitting down at the table now, currently having some small talk until Bonnie speaks up. 

“So that cat, what’s their deal? They don’t look like any cat I’ve ever seen.” Bonnie points over to Pearl who remains on the couch. 

“Yeah, and it seems like you know them really well Sif! Honestly I would’ve just believed you had a pet this whole time!” Isabeau smiles at you.

Well, you’ve technically known Pearl for a few days (weeks?). But if anything they seem really attached to you. Isn’t there like this thing with cats where they see other humans as just bigger cats? 

“Well- uhh, like I said early this morning- they’re a Slugcat.” you take another bite of the food that was given to you, why do they even feed you? You’re just an extra mouth to feed, besides you can’t taste anything! 

“Well, they seem quite smart for a normal animal companion.” Odile looks over at Pearl, they seem to be looking at both of the pearls. 

“Also- I saw you give them one of those pearls, how can such a thing look like that?” you look over at Pearl, sure the pearls are colours but they’re not bringing harm to anyone and you rather have them hold onto such things. 

You see Pearl place the pearls into your hat, well as far as they can put them anyway and then they head over to the table. They continue to climb up your leg and onto your lap. 

“Hey Chef Cooker?” you look over at Bonnie “are animals allowed at the table?” 

“Well, because you can sit at a table they can as well.” Bonnie says that without thinking too much about the answer- ouch. You did hear your Party refer to you as a cat when you hit the counter sometimes- you kinda get it, not really though. 

You’ve finished your food. You don’t want anymore, but that would be out of character for you! But you won't ask unless they offer. 

“So- what does everyone plan to do now that our quest is over?” Isabeau chimes in, changing the conversation- you’ve never asked them what they would do afterwards once you first died. Maybe their answers will be different here? 

“Well- I would like to try and mail Boniface’s sister first. Though I doubt the postal services won't be able to send things for a few days if not weeks so it may be a bit of a challenge.” Odile looks over at Bonnie who nods “we can write the letter before bed or in the morning, whatever you prefer.” 

Bonnie is currently chewing so they just give a thumbs-up. 

“I think I'll just return home to Jouvente... I don't have anything else planned after all! Besides, it’ll be nice to see how everyone is doing now that Vauguard isn’t frozen…” Isabeau looks over at you while talking, you don’t know why he gives you so much attention. 

“I want to see how everyone at the House is doing! It’s been like an entire year since the last time I talked to any of them! I need to make sure everyone is okay and- And!” Mirabelle stops herself “I need to see how my insufferable roommate is anyways.”  

Odile puts down her spoon “well, once I get Boniface home, I’ve been thinking about going back to Ka Bue, It's been a few years after all. I’ve also finished my goal of traveling Vauguard after joining Mirabelle, considering we had to travel to basically every corner of this country just to get the Orbs.” 

You stay quiet, you’ve given this a bit of thought now- but you will never say it outloud. Once you are out of the loops and everyone has gone their ways, you want to die while you can still remember them. You can’t risk forgetting them, and besides! You know the feeling of death better than anyone- the feeling of having your bones crushed, being frozen in time, being killed in the grip of the King- your own dagger…  you don’t even care if you die in the most brutal way that could be imaginable, you don’t really feel any pain anymore. 

This Journey was only really meaningful to you after all- wasn’t it? You care too much about them, but they shouldn’t have to care about you. You’re not worth anything after all. You know that everyone here will continue living because they won't care about some of the memories that were made during this journey, they may remember each other but they have no reason to remember you. 

You feel Pearl softly butting their head on your chest, breaking you out of your thoughts. You move your hand down to pet them instead to hopefully calm them down a bit. 

You’ll need to ask someone to look after Pearl- maybe Odile? She seems to like animals, but that would be such a hassle for her and you’re not sure how Bonnie’s sister would react to a pet. Maybe Isabeau? Mirabelle has a roommate and Isabeau still lives close to Dormont- but Pearl is having a hard time warming up to him. 

“What about you Siffrin? What will you do?” Isabeau is talking to you. Your answer doesn’t really matter after all. If you were a normal person you would go home as well! But you don’t know of any home that you can go to after all.

You feel Odile’s gaze land on you “Yeah Siffrin, what did you do before we met anyways? I don’t think we’ve ever asked.” 

… what DID you do? Wander? Travel? Surely something- “I’m not too sure, but I’m pretty sure all I did was wander…” a wanderer, that’s what they call people like you- someone who can never find a home. But you will have a goal if you do go back to that: Finding a place where no one will ever see you again so long as this planet turns. But that would make you a traveler because it’s at least a goal!

“Just went wherever the wind led me, or it was the lack of a map.” you don’t recall ever having a map, besides with your memory you could go back to a place in a few years and you’d think you’re in a new place that you’ve never visited! 

“With how light you travel I would be surprised if you even had one.” Odile seems to be thinking back. Well- you only really need several things to travel, like 2 or 3 spare pairs of clothing, first aid, maybe some snacks or quick meals, and some cash. You don’t need a tent or a sleeping bag because you can really sleep anywhere if you really think about it. Trees, fields, caves, inns, and in vauguard you can just enter someone’s house and ask if you can rest there for the night if you have the courage to. 

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind settling down somewhere, I don’t really know why I travel, but maybe it’s because I just haven’t found the right place just yet.” a field would be a nice place to be put to rest, the plants will just feed off of your body anyway so they’ll find you more useful than you find yourself. 

“I mean I got a home if you ever want to stay with me-” Isabeau stops himself as he looks away as his face turns a darker shade. Why would he even offer that to someone like you? You didn’t even do their Friend Quests this loop so there is no reason for him to even like you. 

You get up and then clean your plate, you’re exhausted (you always are) and need some time alone (because you can have that this time!) “I’m gonna go get clean or something, it’s late.” How long has it been since the last time you’ve taken care of yourself? Does it matter? 

“I’ll see you guys in the living room afterwards if you need anything.” you place Pearl down and head upstairs before anyone can talk to you.

…

Okay! You’re alone now, that’s good- some alone time! You don’t really have time like this after all. 

You open the cabinet the window covers, it holds a multitude of items but you're just looking for one.

The razors are placed up high to keep children away from them. Thankfully you’re not that short, so no need for a step stool. But they are kept in a small wooden box. You pull it down and take a razor out, removing one of the three blades on it.

You roll up your left sleeve and start poking at the skin. Thankfully the blade isn’t dull, so you have no need to push hard into your arm for you to draw blood.

The placement of dots you make on your upper arm reminds you of some sort of constellation, but you can’t find any meaning in them as you watch your blood trickle down your arm.

…

What would it feel like if you were to just stab yourself in your arm or leg? Dig in some sort of blade or your dagger as deep as you can into it, you know healing craft after all. How much would you be able to feel? How painful can you even make it? 

No, it wouldn’t- you barely feel anything when dying now so what’s even the difference? Besides it would be a pain to clean up let alone hide if you did it now. 

But this is your chance to remove the notes that Odile somehow has, it’s too risky to let her keep them because of Pearl’s existence and the other creatures you’ve run into. But if you keep on running into said creatures she’ll just keep on writing notes and you’ll have to take them out just about every other loop… 

Yeah too much of a hassle, besides you can always just try to find a way to avoid suspicion one way or another.

… you hear the door being pushed open and then shortly after some small paws tugging at your leg with some soft squeaks.

You look down at Pearl “What is it? Did I leave the door open?” they shake their head no and then proceed to close the door. 

You wash off the blood off the blade of the razor and put it away. And then you start cleaning up your arm. In which you feel Pearl climb up your leg to look at it- and then they slowly go back down, their face seems a bit angry and scared at you. 

You quickly clean and then patch yourself up “See, all better now.” you roll down your left sleeve and then look at Pearl, they move over to the now patched-up shoulder, curling around it tightly, like they’re trying to hide it. 

“... do any creatures hurt themselves at all where you're from?” the first time you hurt (or killed yourself) Pearl just looked at you like you should’ve never even been able to think about doing that, the concept itself seems so foreign to them. 

They put their head against your neck, the part where a scar has formed over the loops, the part where you always cut your neck. They shake their head no. 

“Then why does death seem so… normal to you? When we looped back in time it felt like you thought nothing of it. Have you died before we've even met, how many times have you died?” Pearl pauses, and they shrug like they don't even know the answer itself. 

“... Is it okay if we talk about this later? I feel like if we stay here any longer the Party will get worried.” You clean up the bandages, don't want anyone getting any ideas after all. 

“Lets just… go back downstairs, we’ve been up here long enough and I just want to get some things done and over with.” you head out and close the door and Pearl relaxes a bit more on your shoulder- kinda like an oversize shoulder-bird… what was the animal called? The more well known ones are known to be loud and obnoxious, they have many shades on them… eh, hopefully someone might bring up a topic that will allow you to ask

You head downstairs and hear some voices around the corner, they sound like they’re talking about you… did Isabeau say that you were gonna have the feelings talky-talk this loop? Maybe, but Odile did bring it up a while ago. 

You sit down behind the wall that separates the two rooms, you move Pearl down to your lap who also seems interested in what they’re talking about.

“Does anyone know why Siffrin’s behaviour has suddenly changed?” Odile is the one to point out the obvious. You don’t think you’ve changed? Well, can you even call yourself Siffrin if you don’t even remember how you acted and who you were?

“From what I can tell it happened when they woke up from their nap yesterday- they seemed a bit out of it, they replied to basically everything I said almost instantly, but it felt like they weren’t paying attention as well…”  Mirabelle’s soft voice pauses for a bit “were they like that to anyone else?” 

“Well, when they came over to the Favor Tree, and it was when they were making a pun- they told it like it was almost routine to them. Their laugh sounded tired, exhausted even.” You've heard that tone in Isabeau’s voice when they ask for you to talk to him about your feelings. 

“Yeah! But for me, they just stayed behind me and didn’t say ANYTHING! Frin just looked at me exhausted- then talked about them maybe having a nightmare, but then they just des-missed it!” Bonnie sounds like they’re trying to have an inside voice, it’s not really working out for them. They’re not known for being quiet after all. 

Pearl jumps out of your arms and heads over to the Party- you try to stay hidden, and luckily your Party doesn’t know where you are.

“Ah- is Siffrin done then? Thanks… Pearl- okay everyone, let's try and talk to them once they come here.” wait- did Odile ask Pearl to check on you? Then report back to her so you wouldn’t hear them talking? That means you’ll have to get up soon- and that you’ve also been betrayed by the one of the only things you even trust.

 “Anyway- here you go for your efforts.” okay- sounds like Odile bribed them, that makes sense Pearl is only a creature after all, and food is normally how to gain an animal’s trust and loyalty.  

… that may be why the Party refers to you being an animal sometimes besides the sounds you make as well. It’s not your fault Bonnie’s food used to taste so good! (what did it even taste like again?) you may as well just be some wild animal they just happened to pick up along the way. But you were only used to help them on this quest, and this whole journey is hopeless because of you.

You stand up and enter the room, looking at everyone. You need to act like you heard nothing, luckily you’re good at acting! It’s the only thing you’ve been doing for so many loops! 

“Hey, what’s going on?” you try to pull a small smile but you’re too tired to make any kind of meaningful expression.

Everyone looks at each other and then Isabeau speaks up “So- buddy, Sif, Siffarooni, Siffrin- can you talk right now?” you’re not too sure they’ll even let you have a choice

“Yeah… I'd rather get this done now rather than later.” you head over and take a seat on the chair that sits alone from the couch, they must’ve saved it for you because being near you is gross, none of them want to touch you anyway. 

-besides Slugcat apparently as Pearl leaps onto you and curls up in your lap, you slowly and rhythmically pet them. 

“Well, what is it you guys need to talk about?”

Chapter Text

Odile sits up. “Okay, let's start off with the most obvious thing- how do you have some sort of what could be a mutant of a creature following you? I know you said that they’re a Slugcat, but I’ve never seen less alone heard about one. Along with that; This one is also really attached to you like they see you as their older sibling or as their parent.” she takes a breath “how did you even find them?” 

Woah- that's a lot of questions! At least they’re not tackling the main question, maybe they’re trying to build up to it? Also- you personally have no clue how Pearl may see you, from what you’ve gathered you may as well just be some big slugcat to them.

But you need to give them something- “I- well…    …They found me? If that makes sense. Kind of like how one would adopt an animal but the other way around?” how do you even phrase it, you technically meet them awhile ago- and they sort of… well, latched onto you? 

“So like how we got you to join us? …Yeah that checks out.” Mirabelle looks up and seems like she's looking back at a fond memory. Maybe you really are some stray cat they just decided to take with them.

“I think they see you as their parent, maybe that’s with your big cloak and darkless hair but I can see why they may see you as just another cat.” you look over at Pearl who gives a so-so motion with their paw. 

“Well… they are quite smart, how old are they?” Mirabelle sits on the couch, her legs hidden under her skirt, a small little thing she does regularly. 

… but you don’t know how old they are either. How are you supposed to know what a fully grown Slugcat looks like? Maybe if they just see you as a bigger Slugcat who knows how big they’ll get! They could very well end up you-sized for all you know! 

You look at them as they just shrug, seems like they don’t know either? You don’t even know if they measure age by years!

“We don't know? Even if we did, I may not have remembered.” blame your memory issues! Seems to work most of the time when they ask you about things you might know. 

“... okay then, we’ll come back to this. But as for our other questions- how are you doing?” Odile is flipping through her notebook, turning over to a fresh page then looks over at you. 

Do you have to be honest about this? Surely not! They can barely pick up anything while you’re in the house, so what’s the difference here? 

“Good enough, don’t worry about it!” you hold Pearl closer to you, you feel their soft fur on the edge of your glove, most of the touch is blocked but it still feels nice. 

“Sif, you’ve been acting weird ever since you woke up from your nap. We can all tell something is bothering you.” you avoid making eye contact with Isabeau, you don’t want to look at anyone right now. 

“Does it have to do with what you were talking about on the House’s top floor?” it’s not your fault these guys can’t remember a simple word like ‘planet!’ It's basically the same word as world! 

“Would you believe me if I said I've talked about that stuff before with you guys?” the observatory, when you told why stars look like small dots; only because they’re so far away. The starcharts and the constellations, the stories they hold that no one may ever hear again. 

“It doesn’t matter how much I talk about the stars, you guys won't remember.” They won't know the words that go with the topic, for all you know the instruments used for the study can barely be seen by them. 

“Besides, you guys only see them as… pointless dots in the sky, so why would it even matter?” Odile said for you to stop ‘lying’ when you were trying to explain basic information about the stars to Bonnie. 

… everyone is silent, you look up and see that they’re all looking away. Were they even paying attention? 

“... if you guys do remember anything you could try and say it now.” it manages to somehow get even quieter when those words leave your mouth. Why would you ask such a stupid question! Of course they don’t know anything, the concept of the Universe alone is something they can’t even hear! 

Talking about such things even more hurts everyone around you. You don’t want to hurt your Party as much as you already have. You being here is enough to hurt them, you just take and take- until they may have nothing left to give. 

“... if we can’t even hold the information… how can you?” Odile looks at you, as if she is trying to dissect you. But she barely knows you! She’s barely got anything to work with, they only know so much about you, more than you like. Of course you need to say some things to drop suspicion. 

“This is basic knowledge for me, I was taught this in school! I don’t even think my age was in the double digits…” you hear a squeak from Pearl as you realize that you may be holding them a bit too hard. “Sorry Pearl…”

“Let's just say it’s a part of my culture and leave it at that. I don’t want to talk about this anymore, besides it’s getting late.” Pearl goes back to wrapping themself around your arm as you stand up. 

“Besides, if I talk about it. You guys won’t even remember.” you walk over to the stairs

“... goodnight.” 

You head back up to the bedroom. You’re not ready to spill your guts out to everyone and maybe end up as some sobbing mess. They don’t need that. Besides, Odile and Bonnie might be setting out tomorrow or the day after, they have no time to deal with you. 

Mirabelle may have a lot of things she may need to attend… 

And Isabeau- he’ll be going back to his old job, who knows? Maybe even try to live his dream of becoming a fashion designer.

But a part of you knows that none of them will ever live the life they may want just because of you and this eternal cycle you’ve been placed in.

Chapter Text

After hiding Sif’s head-thingy under their bed to keep the pearls safe, you climb up into the bed and wait for Siffrin to come back.

You see them enter back into the room wearing what looks like an Iterator's robe, but it looks a lot more comfortable and it looks like it has a layer or two.

They climb into bed with you and lay down on top of the cushioning. You get into their arms for them to hold you. They're a bit chilly, but it feels really nice. And their touch is so gentle whenever they pet you, but in this case holding you.

You curled up in their arms and they curled around you, their tense body finally relaxing as you allow yourself to purr. They shortly join you afterwards and then proceed to seemingly fall asleep this time.

All the Iterators are currently in the level below you talking about Sif. Seems like they're keeping a close eye on Sif to make sure they behave (or for them to try and comfort Sif by discussing). But they can't seem to do nearly as good a job as you do.

You watch as the biggest Iterator enters the room, he seems to grab a different pair of robes and then looks back at you and Sif for a moment then leaves. 

Maybe the reason they're all around Sif is because Slugcats are rarer here? (When was the last time you saw another Slugcat besides Sif?) They did say they've never really seen anything like you (maybe that's because Sif is really big for a Slugcat, reminds you of when you were little). Would that make Sif and you rare creatures that need to be watched? Maybe that's why Sif is in a… (what's the word?) Timeloop? (Cycle?) Maybe the Iterators are keeping the two of you in one so you don't go off and die in a random area that may be hard to get out of during the next cycle.

You get the pain of ending up in a harsher environment than you would like. But you hit the jackpot here! Surrounded by Iterators who are making a group effort to care for you and Sif! (They remind you of a simpler time, when you could curl up with others for protection and warmth while resting). Sif also watches you, making sure you're okay and behaving yourself (like some parent or an older sibling). but you don't know how long it's been last time someone held you like this- you can't recall your parent's faces even. 

There are some things that they do that don't make sense to you. Why do they hurt themselves? More specifically on purpose. You've never seen a creature do that unless they were insane and hitting their head against a wall to knock themselves out. But you've never seen a creature cut itself open, and you really, REALLY don't like it. You're gonna make an effort to make sure they don't try and do that (is that why the Iterators are watching them? Because of their odd habits along with how rare you guys seem to be?) 

The big Iterator Isa comes back, he's in simpler clothing. You watch him move to the empty side of the bed and touch the blanket Sif left alone (not bothering to get themselves tangled up in it). 

He grabs the edge of the blanket and gently lays it over you and Siffrin then tucks you guys in. Afterwards you feel his hand on you (you're not gonna push him away anymore, he's shown he only has Sif's best interests in mind and also tries to care for you). Besides, he's very warm. 

You allow yourself to purr a bit more loudly, this also makes Sif purr a bit more which makes Isabeau look at Siffrin and you see a gentle smile form on his face as he looks at them. You watch as his hand slowly hovers over Sif's head, but then he pulls back and stands back up.  

You watch as the rest of the Iterators slowly enter the room, all in different clothing than the ones you saw them in earlier this day. The smallest one has paper in their hand with a circle keeping the folded paper together, and Odile places it in her journal to keep it safe. 

“We'll see if we can get it sent tomorrow, don't worry Boniface.” You hear her talk in a hushed tone to Bonnie (Bonbon? Boniface?) Bonnie nods their head and then gets into bed with Mira(belle?) Just like the previous day. 

Isa gets onto the other side of yours and Sif's bed. When he lays down and looks at Sif, you feel like he's holding back on holding them. (You think Sif could perfectly curl up in his arms if they did). 

Once he's laying down and you feel that Siffrin is more or less fully asleep, you climb over to Isabeau and try to move his arm onto Sif's back. 

You feel his arm move and then he pets you “sorry buddy, but Sif doesn't like us touching them.” 

…

What? No, that's stupid. They like touch, they're just jumpy! With loud sounds as well! (You are too but that's because it used to mean life or death if you couldn't react quickly). 

You continue to try and pull his hand onto Siffrin but he keeps on resisting.

“Huh, you're quite strong..?” You feel him actually trying to pull back his hand, but you know an Iterator's puppet isn't very strong. 

It takes a bit of effort, but you do manage to force him to place his hand on Sif's side. You feel Siffrin jump, but you stay on his hand until Sif relaxes. 

You keep your paws on his hand as you slowly shift off and look at his very red face. Siffrin doesn’t seem to have noticed his hand resting on them. 

… Well- if Siffrin won't make a move, you’ll have to make them. So you lightly grab their hand and they don’t resist at all. You try to put their two hands on top of the other, but seeing Isabeau’s red face, you just leave Sif’s fingertips touching his. 

You go back to Siffrin's one free arm and curl back up in it. If Isabeau curled around both of you it would be a lot warmer and you would feel ever more safer, but just being in Sif's arms alone is enough to feel at home.

You’ve decided that Sif’s your family now. You know you’ll never get yours back, but you feel just as safe while being with them! Being held by such a big Slugcat makes you feel so small again. Like you’re a child, cuddling up with your parents and siblings. Maybe if Isabeau was holding Siffrin, you would feel like a baby again. 

You remember the day very clearly; the day you lost your old family. You were so young when it happened, only a few cycles old (less than a hundred at least). You and your family failed to get home before the rain started pouring, everything happened so fast that the moment you slipped from your parent’s hands you accepted you would never see them again. 

You had all the time in the world to think as you drowned over and over again in the river below. The current was too strong for you to even keep your head afloat long enough for a deep breath, or have the slightest chance to control where you were going. 

It took so long to learn how to survive for even one cycle in the new land you found yourself in afterwards. You were either too slow, trying to sleep on an empty stomach, or the fact that your flight, fight or freeze response kicks in the moment you hear even a drop of rain fall.

The Lizards, Centipedes, Vultures… they were all just trying to survive like you so they wouldn’t have to feel the pain of ‘death’ every time they get eaten themselves or get crushed by the rain. Sometimes, if you couldn’t find shelter in time for the rain you would see some of the creatures either run, or stop entirely- accepting that they couldn’t make it that cycle. 

Scavengers are very stubborn though, always tending to their wounds or trying to save each other from the rain or fatal hits. You were trying to help them and one of them accidently threw a spear through your right eye.

If you just died that cycle you wouldn't be blind in that eye. But they just had to remove the spear and tend to your wound.

The rain still killed you that cycle, but because you lived through that- your eye was left scarred and it became a lot harder to make jumps or judge distance. 

The only cycle you really felt some form of comfort in was when you ran into a young lizard and their parents. They didn’t make any effort to attack you after it started to drizzle, in fact the young one tried to find comfort with you- that was one of the only cycles you ever felt comfort. Shame you never saw them again.

The hell of thousands of cycles- maybe almost a hundred thousand by the time you were freed. But you barely remember most of it, if not any besides those core memories.

After who knows how many cycles you started to get very desperate. You went over to Five Pebbles and he said to go deep into the planet once you pass the Farm Arrays. But you went back to Looks to the Moon instead wondering what her solution was. 

She told you that you could ‘ascend’ as she placed it, but the way it was described sounded like a cheating way out, a permanent way out. You weren’t sure if you wanted to go away forever with the emotions you were carrying. So you managed to ask Big Sis Moon about another way with pictures.

So she said to maybe try wishing on a star, telling you that she remembered it was seen as taboo amongst the ancients because they would wish for such simple things… sometimes they would wish out of the cycle, but only one ancient got out that way despite the hundreds that might’ve wished the same thing. After that rumors spread that the ancient suffered a fate far worse than the cycles or death no one ever thought to ask the stars anything ever again.

But Moon thought otherwise, She doesn’t think the stars are ever that cruel. Sure they may not give you exactly what you want, but it can still produce the outcome you wanted. 

After showing her that's what you want to do, she told you to go as high as you can- the closer you are to the stars, the more likely they’ll hear your cries. 

Then you made your way over to the Exterior, it was a nice place- one of the only places where the rain wouldn’t crush all of your bones while striking through your guts. It was also the only place you could recall even being able to see the stars, the only place where the sun would set. 

The climb was harder than all the other times you tried to climb it, like the Lizards were more abundant- or how sluggish your body and mind were getting. It took you over a hundred tires to get up. Falling over and over- feeling your bones crush and organs collapse into themselves, to be left as some leftover meal for whatever found you. 

In the end, you did make it to the top. And laid down until the sky was darker than the corners of the Shaded Citadel. When you looked up, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, it was just you and the Stars. 

You ended up pouring your heart out for hours- crying, yelling, making any sound you can to get even the slightest bit of attention from the flames above. 

And, well, they listened. A fragment of the Stars fell to your feet, it was so bright- brighter than what you could make of the sun you were never able to see. It told you that you could ask the thing you desired, it pushed you to spill your guts out one last time.

You brought it up to your head and asked for it to take you into a world where you wouldn’t have to feel so much pain, a world where there may be someone to love you. Even if you had to do just a bit more work to earn whoever’s trust for them to love you, so long as they wouldn’t hurt you- you would be content. 

Once the cycle had ended, you woke up in the peaceful grassy fields of this world- the first thing you saw was Siffrin. Laying asleep next to you, and when they did wake up- they allowed you to touch them, to seek comfort from them, and they didn't hurt you.

Chapter Text

You woke up a bit earlier than normal and found your hand being held by Isabeau's. You swear you tried your best to escape, but the moment you tried to untangle your fingers he moved. 

And you also tried to place Pearl down somewhere as well, but now their half-awake and the two of you are purring as quietly as you can for the sake of not waking up anyone. 

You hold Pearl closer until you hear their small beating heart. It feels a bit slow right now, but they aren't fully awake so it makes sense. 

They've only been with you in these loops for a bit, but for some reason you feel very attached to them. (That must be normal, don't pet owners get attached to their pets quickly? Or is it just you?)

… the sun is coming up, the horizon is a bit brighter right now, so you'll be able to see it soon. That also means Isabeau and Bonnie will wake up soon. (You really don't understand early-birds.) 

You feel Isabeau shift some more until he sits up. He seems to move the hand that's holding yours, but pauses. 

He lightly and very carefully traces circles on the back of your hand and then breaks your hands apart as you shift a bit.

“Sorry Sif… I'll see you downstairs soon.” Isabeau speaks in hushed tones as he gets up and goes downstairs. 

You hear Bonnie speak next; “Belle- wake up, you're helping me with breakfast.” 

Mira's response to this is to roll over with a soft groan as she makes an attempt to wake up “I'll be down in ten minutes…” and waves Bonnie off.

You hear Bonnie barrel down the stairs, and Mirabelle trying to summon the strength to get up. Odile also gets up, but she doesn't need the same amount of willpower that Mira does to get out of bed.

Pearl starts sliding out of your arms- but you don't want to let go just yet. “Pearlie… tis’ too early, not yet…” your words are a jumbled mess, you're mostly awake but your mind is tired. 

“Siffrin- as much as we have trouble waking up, it is inevitable. If we don't get out now they're just gonna come back and drag us out of bed…” Mira sits up and stretches, you hear several bones pop. 

You try to get up, but your leg is caught in the blanket and you trip on the floor. 

“Ah! Are you okay Siffrin?” Mira rushes to your side. 

“Mmm yesi'mfine... Leg got tangled.” stars you are really not conscious right now. You could fall asleep for a year if you needed to at this rate. 

You feel your body being dragged across the floor by Pearl

“Siffrin? You should wake up..? How the crab is Pearl even able to pull you, Aren't they just a cat?” Mira pokes you as Pearl opens the door to drag you out into the hallway.

“Wait- maybe let Siffrin get up-” Pearl moves under your stomach and then more or less throws you down the stairs. Your body bounces off the first few steps and you crash at the bottom. Honestly, you really couldn't care less- you're so tired that even being in a position like this you could potentially fall asleep (not like it even hurts or anything.)

You feel Pearl leap into your stomach (okay- now THAT hurts.) 

“SIFFRIN- Oh change- are you okay?!” Mirabelle rushes to your side.

“Don't worry about it-”

“Is everything okay?!” Isabeau rushes over to see the damage you might've done.

“Yes- I'm getting up, don't worry.” You pull your body up “the worst thing that i may get might be some nasty bruise.” 

You stand up and pick up Pearl. “Seriously- don't worry about it.” You walk away before they can say anything.

You catch the smell of Bonnie's cooking (smells warm… but it's so sickly sweet.)

 “Whatcha making?” you walk over and stand next to the wall that splits the kitchen from the living room. 

Bonnie looks over at you “morning Frin’- wait, you're not even dressed for the morning yet!” 

“Anyway, once we're done eating, Dile’ and me are gonna go see if the post-cal ser-mices are open so we can send a letter over to Nille.” They pause their cooking

“We might set out tomorrow though- what about you?” 

… you forgot you're supposed to leave them- it seems reasonable for you to be the first to go as well. Maybe you should just leave while it’s dark out. 

“I'm gonna check my items. I may leave after breakfast or sometime tomorrow, so I should go do that. ” You place Pearl down and make your way back upstairs. Bonnie might feed them scraps if they take pity on them. 

You go upstairs and make sure all your items are in order. Thankfully you don't have a lot of things, mostly just you, your cloak, hat, and bag. 

… where is your hat- ah, under the bed. Seems like Pearl was keeping their items in it and wanted to stash it away. 

You make sure all the little trinkets you collected are still in your cloak's pockets while you place the pearls in a pocket as well. 

Friend drawing, Silver Coin… mirror picture- secret ingredient… and Pearl's pearls and the drawing of Loop that they made.

It really does feel like you’re parting ways with everyone (but you know that even that won't last.) 

Well, it’s not like you really carry anything, so that’s all! 

… what is Bonnie making? You didn’t get a good look and they told you to get dressed instead of saying what they're making. (not like it matters anyway). 

You pull your cloak over your head and grab your hat (which is now empty of pearls.)

… you feel like you should talk to Loop. How long will it take for Bonnie to finish cooking?

You head down and see Bonnie right before they yell to summon everyone- you caught them the moment they opened their mouth and you two locked eyes awkwardly. They continue to yell for everyone away and you manage to cover your ears discreetly just in time. 

“What did you make this time?” 

“Spring rolls! I was given a lot of veggies and I had some pork I needed to use soon.” you help them finish setting up the table as they bring over the food and you set up the plates. 

… you’re not too sure you even want to eat right now. 

“Hey Bonnie, I don’t have much of an appetite right now, do you think there'll be leftovers?” 

They look at you- you’re not really sure you can put a word to the emotion they’re expressing. Disappointment? Sadness? It’s hard to tell.

“Look, I just need to go check something real quick- I’ll be sure to be back as quick as I can.” 

“Can’t you wait until after we’re done eating?” 

“Sorry, it’s important. But like I said; I’ll be back as soon as I can.” you head over to the door, and then feel yourself get tackled by the local Slugcat. 

“Pearl- do you want to go to the Favor tree with me..?” you slowly turn your head over to them and your voice is strained. And you hear a squeak of confirmation from them. 

You pick them up and head out before anyone can catch you going outside and then-

… you feel yourself laying down on the grass, looking up towards the afternoon sun. Pearl is curled up on your chest like they’ve been there for awhile. 

Well, that was- why did you loop back? The moment your foot landed on the ground you looped back. 

Well. no matter, you feel like you should talk to Loop.

Pearl climbs into your cloak as you get up and walk over to Mira. 

“Siffrin! You're-” you can’t be bothered with this anymore. Just go and talk to Loop, maybe go through the house and make an attempt to find more information about your situation.

Your mind goes blank until you find yourself sitting across from Loop.

“Heya, stardust! May I ask how you’re holding up these past few loops?” they lean forward and prop up their head with their hands. 

“... have I been acting differently as of recently?” you don’t feel tense, your senses seemed to be dulled in a different way than the lack of feeling- more like a fuzzy feeling. 

“Well, do you feel any different?” … could they not read your head that time?

“Nope! When I try it feels a bit fuzzy, like your senses were toned down a notch or two! And from my observation you’re not really reacting to things as much as you did before. Like if something was going REALLY wrong, remember how you would react?” 

… whenever you panicked or where taken too off guard you would in fact- 

“Loop! That’s right, stardust!” they straighten their posture and look you dead in the eye. “Why do you think you may be acting this way now?” 

You jump a bit after Pearl climbs up your body and pops their small head out of the collar of your cloak. 

“You wouldn’t have something to do with this, you little cutie patootie?”  Loops leans over and boops Pearl’s nose, but they keep the same stare. 

Pearl tries to retreat back into your cloak

“Nope! We’re talking whether you like it or not!” Loop tackles you and makes an effort to grab Pearl until said slugcat tries to make a run for it. Loop gets off of you and manages to pounce onto Pearl holding them in a tight hug. 

“Now I feel like you got some explaining to do.”

Chapter Text

They aren’t supposed to be here, You KNOW that Pearl isn’t supposed to be here. There isn’t even a reason for them to be here! Sure they’re all cute and cuddly- but you have no clue how they even got here. 

You only finally noticed they lightly smelled like sugar after you got them cleaned, but you thought nothing of it until Stardust was at the clocktower with them. It still took you a while to put it all together, but you think you’ve collected almost all the pieces of this puzzle. 

Somehow, in some way- Pearlie made a wish. What kind of wish? You don’t know. Could’ve been made from a stupid leaf, a star- or whatever they might’ve had. 

“Stardust, I’ll be sure to send Pearl back to you tonight.” you’re gonna need some time to get answers out of Pearl, they can only communicate so much after all. 

“Loop! You literally just tackled me to the ground- and now you’re holding down Pearl!”

“I’m not going to hurt them! I just need to get some form of answers from them and they’ll be on their merry way~!” you sit up and hold Pearlie in your lap.

“See? Here, if I hurt them you’ll have every right to attack me on sight- would that make you feel any better?” 

“What- No! Loop- I’m not going to attack you! What if I just stay here as you interrogate Pearl to make sure you don’t do anything to them.” 

“Stardust so help me I will fight you this loop-” you stand up holding Pearlie by the scruff “because I’m pretty sure I just figured out what we’re dealing with! Haven’t you caught their scent? That sickly sweet smell that seems to follow you as well.”  You’re pretty sure you smell like sugar as well, but if you're able to tell Pearl’s scent apart from your own you may not have it as strongly as before. 

“A few loops ago you told me that the smell was very strong while talking to the Head Housemaiden, surely our dear Pearlie has nothing to do with something like that?” What did Stardust tell you about what she said… that’s right- “Something's broken, something's failing, rotting; she says that every time, no? Something like that could very well be happening with our small friend.”

“Loop I-” Stardust looks right at you, but then takes a moment to actually think for once. “... have I told you about the creatures I've run into on the third floor?”

Creatures? You feel like they’ve talked to you about it before, you can’t recall when though or if such a conversation even happened. “What kind?”

“The Lizards and whatnot- most of them have at least one kind of colour on them, it’s not just the Fauna, but the Flora too. Plants grow in the walls alongside King’s hair, most of the time they’re nothing BUT colour, sometimes having two or three. But no one pays attention to the plants but once a creature has a colour THEN the party has a more drastic reaction. The worst part is, all of this stuff is only on the third floor!” 

“What about the floors above? Surely there’s something in those.” Would creatures show up in the King’s room?

“Only the hallway leading to King so far, ran into a Lizard that could be described as twice Isabeau’s size with an aggressive colour covering its head and along its spine.” twice? You know the King is at least ten times the size of Isabeau, but a Lizard- aren’t those things at most the size of your palm?

“Wait, how could a Lizard of that size even get into The House?” 

“Beats me- Isabeau asked the same question and I refuse to think too hard about it; besides the creatures switch out every loop- and besides the Fauna, the only plant they reacted to was carnivorous grass.” you hear a squeak from Pearlie. 

“May I talk with Pearlie alone now? With the reactions we’re getting from them, I feel like they have some explaining to do. If I am to get worthwhile information I’ll relay it over to you when I feel like it.” some paper and pen would be really helpful right about now. 

Siffrin tenses up and opens their mouth, making an attempt to find words to protest against you. “I got nothing- Just, don’t hurt them…  Please?” 

“Don’t worry, I’m asking questions with words and not replying to answers with my fists.” sometimes you do wish Stardust will just speak to your fist, most loops you don’t want to even see their face. But nope~ You two are stuck in time with some sort of mutant cat from Universe!

“Now shoo shoo- I’m it’s my turn with the Slugcat.” you watch as Stardust reluctantly pulls themself away from the Favor Tree as you head back under the nearly pitch-lightless shade of the tree. 

The only source of light under the tree is you and the light reflected off of Pearlie’s darkless fur. The way their fur moves makes it seem almost sparkly, like the bright stars being reflected off of a surface that’s nearly as bright as them.

“Let's get some of the easier and obvious questions out of the way first- are the creatures roaming around The House your fault?” They look at the ground, dusting off a good patch of dirt. After a bit you see them writing some sort of symbols in the ground- the way they’re drawing seems like they’re writing in Ka Buean- but some of the symbols seem off and it’s being drawn left to right. 

“... yeah that’s not going to work, stick with drawings…” wait, no this could just be one of those weird fonts for Vaugaurdian or something, just make them write it whatever order the symbols go in. 

“Could you actually write uhm… the alphabet to this? If it has one that is.” they look up at you and then dust off the previously drawn symbols and start evenly spacing a bunch. After once they’re done you count up the symbols- Vauguardian only has 26 letters so unless it’s got more or less it should be at least the same alphabet.

You count them all up- nope, it’s 53. Definitely not the letter count for any language you know of. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with this language- who taught you? Another Slugcat?” Pearlie looks down and draws a humanoid-looking figure. Although the body structure is similar, the eyes are large and they have a dot on their forehead. Not to mention the ears, round but are pointed at the ends then stretched to above the head. 

“Interesting-” you reach down to the picture but Pearlie has the audacity to growl at you, their body tenses up and their grip on the stick tightens. “No touching this drawing?” Pearlie nods frantically at you “fair enough.” 

“Once I’m done asking questions, you may ask me some of yours- well try to ask me. Stick to the drawings as well- considering the language barrier.” They draw a little thumbs-up in the dirt, but after that they grab a stick and start drawing with that instead. 

“Okay, lets start- do you know what the creatures in the house are? Are you familiar with them in any given way?” 

They block the dirt in front of you, taking several minutes to make various types of doodles, some bigger and seemingly more aggressively drawn than others- compared to the humanoid looking one, the others ones aren’t made with as much love as the human. 

How many different kinds are there? “May I ask how long do you think this will take?” 

They point their stick to the sun and point to the horizon and then the ground. Seems like they understand where the sun goes when it becomes night. 

“That long? Well it seems like I’ll be joining you on the ground for this one.”